The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

Now that the diagram for the Immortal-Slaying Formation is complete, it’s time to quickly gather the necessary materials and set up the array.

A glimmer flashed in Long Xuan's eyes as he immediately put away the formation diagram and swiftly headed out.

It had taken half a year to study the diagram of the Immortal-Slaying Formation. By now, Blackstone City had been besieged for nearly two years.

Even after two years of controlling the horde of corpses to attack Blackstone City, Shi Haojun still hadn't been able to capture it. The fact that the various clans in the city had managed to hold out under the relentless assault of the plague corpses for two years surprised everyone and defied all expectations.

Of course, no one except the Long Clan knew the true reason behind this.

The Long Clan had been secretly transporting supplies into the city through the spatial house, undermining Shi Haojun's war of attrition strategy.

City Lord Yan Pojun remained in the dark, suspecting nothing. He simply believed that, as a large city, Blackstone had resources stockpiled by the various clans. Even when supplies were running low, he thought they could still squeeze out a little more.

The Long Clan made a huge profit from this war, becoming the biggest beneficiary.

With such enormous wealth in their hands, who knows how many Dragon Blood Battle Gu the Long Clan would refine?

Long Xuan was well aware that the Long Clan had no shortage of the primary material for Dragon Blood Battle Gu. After countless millennia of accumulation, the clan had an abundant supply of the peak-grade spiritual insect known as the Divine Dragon insect.

As long as there was no shortage of peak-grade primary insects and enough wealth to purchase the other materials, Dragon Blood Battle Gu could be mass-produced.

The Long Clan of the Far West controlled the food supply route to Blackstone City. All the water and food needed by the Western Land’s Long Clan had to be purchased from the Far Western Long Clan, who took the opportunity to raise prices, also earning a fortune. Refining some Dragon Blood Battle Gu was not a problem for them either.

Long Xuan was pleased to see both branches of the Long Clan growing stronger. The stronger they were, the easier it would be for him to ally himself with them and protect his newfound wealth. With this in mind, Long Xuan made his way to the clan head’s pavilion, holding the Longevity Gu.

As expected, Long Wanli was once again excited. The Long Clan was thrown into a flurry of activity, with the various clan elders rushing out of their residences in haste, so eager that they didn’t even take time to dress properly, heading straight for the council hall.

In no time at all, all the high-ranking members of the clan had gathered. In the past, these old men would drag their feet because of their age, but today they had all arrived instantly, as if they had flown over directly. Not a single one was absent.

"Using a method to increase the lifespan of Gu insects to enhance their quality—what a divine idea! How did I not think of that?"

"This is the first time I’ve heard that Gu insect quality can be enhanced in this way. It’s a miracle in the world of Gu! Does this mean that other Gu insects can also be upgraded through extending their lifespan?"

"What would it mean to upgrade peak-grade Gu insects? Could there be future stages of Holy Gu insects or Divine Gu insects?"

The Second Elder stared at the small chubby insect in the middle of the conference table, his eyes wide with fiery excitement, flailing his arms around like a madman.

"Haha!" The Great Elder chuckled, stroking his beard. "Let’s not think about upgrading peak-grade Gu insects. All Gu insects with a lifespan exceeding ten thousand years are collectively known as peak-grade Gu insects, regardless of their individual strength or differences. There won't be a higher quality of Gu insects beyond this level."

"Otherwise, do you think the Plague Demon Gu would still be classified as a peak-grade Gu insect? It’s long since surpassed the realm of peak-grade Gu insects and has become absurdly powerful."

"If there were truly higher classifications beyond peak-grade, the Plague Demon Gu would be two or three levels above it, far out of reach."

"Exactly!" Long Wanli interjected, "This idea is interesting, but let’s stop here for now. The Longevity Gu only works on the Sou Gu and is ineffective for other Gu insects."

"If you want to realize what’s on your mind, you’d have to invent a new Gu recipe, and that’s incredibly costly. You all know how resource-intensive it is to create a new Gu recipe."

"We have many ways to make money and many tasks to accomplish. There’s no need to divert our energy elsewhere."

"Our focus now should be on evolving the Sowu Gu. Establishing teleportation gates everywhere is the top priority for our clan. Whether our clan rises to glory depends on this one move."

Long Wanli's eyes suddenly shone with excitement as his expression grew more and more enthusiastic.

The Great Elder, who valued the Sou Gu above all else, suddenly became serious and said gravely, “Don’t get too excited just yet.”

“This is a technology powerful enough to render teleportation arrays obsolete. The interests at stake are enormous. If not handled properly, it could lead to the destruction of our entire clan.”

“Forget us being able to protect it; even if we join forces with the Western Land's Long Clan, we still wouldn’t be able to protect it.”

“Our foundation is small. No matter how many resources we have, we can’t cultivate a large number of Gu Kings in a short time. Finding a powerful backer is our only choice.”

“That’s why I suggested long ago that if we successfully develop the Sou Gu’s ability to teleport living beings, we should contact our relatives in various regions to jointly protect this wealth.”

“This plan should be activated now.”

All the elders nodded, putting away their smiles and turning serious. Long Wanli calmed down, took a deep breath, and sighed, “That’s indeed the only way, but it’s also dangerous.”

“There are many people with the surname Long in this world, and many of them share the same roots, but we haven’t had contact for 800 years—no, we haven’t had contact for countless millennia. Aside from sharing the same surname, we belong to different factions.”

“Even though factions with the same roots are easier to trust, we can’t guarantee that they won’t have ulterior motives.”

“This is definitely risky, but it’s certainly more reliable than trusting outsiders.”

The Great Elder nodded. “I have the same concerns. If one side is too strong and the other too weak, then even if they are related by blood, it’s hard to maintain an equal partnership.”

“My idea is to first unite with weaker relatives to form an alliance, and then expand that alliance continuously until the alliance itself becomes strong enough to reach out to the strongest of them all—the Dragon Soaring Empire of Central Land.”

“With the strength of the Dragon Soaring Empire, I believe they can protect this business.” The Great Elder's eyes flashed.

When this force was mentioned, all the elders of the clan showed a change in expression, and a look of apprehension appeared in their eyes.

Among the thirty-six lands of the Western Regions, the Central Land is the strongest. The Central Land has the largest area among the thirty-six lands, filled with countless superpowers and strong individuals as numerous as the clouds.

The Dragon Soaring Empire is the overlord of the Central Land and one of the strongest forces there. The number of Gu Kings in this nation-level force is beyond count, and powerful figures like Yan Pojun, with combat strength, are a common sight.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Dragon Soaring Empire could easily send someone to wipe out the Far West Long Clan. The gap between them is that wide.

“I think it’s feasible,” said Long Wanli with a piercing gaze. “Although the risk cannot be completely avoided, wanting to accomplish great things without any risk is simply impossible.”

“A few days ago, the West Sea Long Clan was besieged by the Zhu and Song clans and sent us a request for aid.”

“I originally didn’t want to get involved, as meddling in other people's affairs could lead to losses among our experts and easily make enemies, bringing calamities upon us.”

“But now it seems necessary for our clan to intervene. The West Sea Long Clan is not weak. If our clan steps in to rescue them and establishes a life-saving debt, they could become our first solid cooperative partner.”

All the elders nodded together. The second elder said, “When the beast tide erupted in the far western region last time, the West Sea forces, including the West Sea Long Clan, came to aid.”

“If we take action under the pretext of repaying their favor, it would be reasonable and justifiable. This can be done.”

Everyone nodded again, and no one raised any objections. This decision to dispatch troops to the West Sea was finalized at this meeting.

…

Half a month later, at Ziwei Peak.

The Immortal-Slaying Formation is unique in that it doesn’t require a large area, so setting it up doesn’t take too much time. With the cooperation of his five clones, Long Xuan successfully arranged the Immortal-Slaying Formation in just half a month.

As soon as the Execution Array was completed, Long Xuan couldn’t wait to summon Long Ziyan over.

“Granny Long, go inside. Remember your promise.”

Long Xuan made a gesture of invitation, looking at her with a mischievous smile.

Long Ziyan frowned slightly and looked at him suspiciously.

Did he really manage to create it? How is that possible? He must be bluffing.

A person who had never even touched a sword could actually create an formation simulating sword intent? What a joke. She wouldn’t believe it even if she were beaten to death.

Long Ziyan looked at the eighteen white pillars in the center of the field, frowning even more deeply.

The formation that Long Xuan had haphazardly set up not only had a small range, but he had also bizarrely erected eighteen pillars.

The pillars couldn’t be unnecessary. Based on her understanding of formations, this should be a kind of formation base for inscribing array patterns. Horizontally inscribing array patterns was certainly a novel idea.

Combining horizontal and vertical array patterns would create more complex functions, enough to bewilder people. Even though her knowledge of formations wasn’t deep, she knew that such an array would be extremely troublesome. Without understanding this novel concept, no one would be able to break it.

No one had ever inscribed array patterns horizontally before. Otherwise, if they erected such pillars, wouldn’t the array patterns be visible to everyone? Wouldn’t it be easy to break the array then?

No formation master would do something so foolish. How could Long Xuan make such a basic mistake? Such an idea was simply impossible in this world. Long Ziyan looked puzzled.

However, when her Evil Dragon Emperor’s Eye swept over the pillars and carefully observed for a long time, she didn’t see a single array pattern and didn’t know where he had hidden them.

Her confusion deepened.

“Are you sure this is an formation? For such a large formation, are you sure it can be deployed?” Long Ziyan asked in surprise.

“Actually, the formation can be even larger, but a larger killing formation is used for defending against enemies. If it’s only for assisting people in comprehending sword intent, it doesn’t need to be that large. This area is sufficient.”

“Don’t underestimate the formation just because it looks small from the outside. When you step inside, you’ll find that the world inside is boundless, with no end in sight.”

“Once you get lost inside, even if you aren’t killed by the sword intent, it’s hard to find your way out, and you’ll end up trapped to death.”

“I’m not bragging, but this formation can definitely be considered a world-class famous formation, and it should even be ranked among the top.” Long Xuan said proudly.

“This is the formation trigger. You can activate it whenever you want to experience it.”

“You should go in and experience it now. I guarantee you’ll be greatly surprised by the world inside.”

Long Xuan stuffed a sword-shaped token into Long Ziyan’s jade hand and, without giving her a chance to refuse, pushed her into the center of the Immortal-Slaying Formation, right in the middle of the eighteen pillars.

As soon as Long Ziyan entered the Immortal-Slaying Formation, the eighteen pillars immediately began flashing, emitting brilliant light.

It didn’t take long for the eighteen pillars and Long Ziyan inside to vanish into thin air…