The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

“Not good! That's a Sea Stabilizing Pill!”

“The Sea Stabilizing Pill can temporarily elevate one’s cultivation to the Spiritual Sea stage, but it exacts a fatal price.”

“Is this person mad?”

“Let’s get out of here! He's as good as dead. Even if we can beat him, it’s pointless to fight a dead man! None of us can withstand the desperate counterattack of a Spiritual Sea stage Gu Cultivator at death’s door!”

After reminding Long Xuan, Di Xin immediately fled in one direction.

Long Xuan was momentarily stunned, but seeing Di Xin run, he naturally didn’t want to face this Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivator alone.

Thus, he decisively fled as well, disappearing into the puppet army with his Star Stepping speed.

Long Xuan wasn’t truly afraid of being pursued; if the man dared chase him, he was confident he could wear him down by controlling the puppet army.

He didn’t believe the power from swallowing a forbidden pill could last long.

Seeing that Gu Tianyi hadn’t pursued him, Long Xuan gradually slowed his pace, a contemplative look appearing on his face.

The Gu God Bowl, huh? So Di Xin’s target was actually the Gu God Bowl. It was rumored that using this artifact for refining Gu could triple the success rate, making it a priceless treasure—something even Gu Kings would go mad over.

Yet, this treasure was of little use to him personally. He had no interest in artifacts that enhanced Gu refining success rates, so after satisfying his curiosity, he quickly left.

Although that Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivator had gone after Di Xin, Long Xuan wasn’t worried about Di Xin’s safety.

After all, so many Gu Kings had tried to kill Di Xin without success; a Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivator chasing her would be even less likely to succeed.

The man was doomed to fail. His forbidden pill would be wasted, and when its side effects hit, it would be his death—no need to concern himself with him anymore.

Following that, Long Xuan began to madly scavenge treasures from each room.

However, a frustrating problem soon arose.

He could easily smash the barriers of ordinary houses to retrieve treasures, but those containing high-grade treasures were impossible for him to break through.

Long Xuan’s face darkened. He finally understood that the treacherous old man, seeing others breaking even the sturdiest barriers, had secretly reinforced them to prevent anyone from looting all the treasures.

With the reinforced barriers likely requiring the strength of a Gu King to break, he, as a Marrow Cleansing stage Gu cultivator, couldn’t possibly penetrate them.

He cursed inwardly but had no choice but to abandon the idea of taking all the most valuable treasures.

That old guy clearly couldn’t play fair, and Long Xuan knew he couldn’t outplay the rule-maker.

Left with no choice, Long Xuan resumed looting treasures from ordinary houses, able to smash them with one punch as long as they were far from the city center.

He specifically searched for Youth-Preserving Fruits, intending to take them back for Long Ziyan to try, and also to try some himself; he wanted to stay eternally youthful, looking handsome for countless thousand years.

…

An hour later.

The puppet army within the Divine Machines City was finally cleared out by the Gu Cultivators army. Not a single puppet remained.

However, there were no puppet remnants on the ground, nor any Gu practitioners’ corpses—only bloodstains scattered about, still wet.

Whether puppet or Gu practitioner, any being killed here had its corpse vanish into thin air, leaving the survivors with no opportunity to loot.

With so many Gu Insect dead, but no way to recoup their losses by looting corpses, their faces grew grim.

Although they had found treasures in various houses around the city, their accumulated losses were too high; some elite Gu cultivators had suffered a significant net loss.

Crucially, the treasures valuable enough to compensate for their losses were locked in houses with barriers that peak Marrow Cleansing stage Gu practitioners couldn’t break. All they could do was look on helplessly, stewing in impotent fury.

At this point, the surviving Gu cultivators were converging on the city center.

The city center held an inner city, encircled by four towering walls, each guarded by numerous puppets, many of which were golden and silver.

These four towering walls blocked the view of all the Gu cultivators, leaving them clueless about what might lie within and what unimaginable treasures were hidden inside.

The exact opportunities within the city remain unknown, but it’s speculated that the treasure at the very center of the Divine Mechanism City must hold the highest value among all the treasures here. It’s even possible that the city’s ultimate treasure, the prized possession that upholds its prestige, is hidden there.

The mystery surrounding the city center captivates them all, filling them with an irresistible urge to rush in and unveil its secrets.

At this moment, everyone looking at the inner city shows an intense expression of greed, their eyes brimming with anticipation.

Even the outermost regions of the city possess heaven-defying treasures like the Youth-Preserving Fruit and the Longevity Fruit, and there are even divine herbs that exceed Twelfth grade. What could be hidden in the inner city that would be even more extraordinary? Everyone’s breathing quickens, and their eyes turn red with desire.

When Long Xuan tossed out a branch of the Soul-Nourishing Tree onto the ground, it inadvertently led many to assume that something of even greater value than divine herb must lie within the inner city.

Such a heaven-defying treasure would drive everyone to spare no expense in their attempt to enter.

However, the four towering walls currently block the Gu cultivators’ armies, and with even higher-quality puppets stationed above, breaking through clearly demands a fight to the death and will lead to even greater casualties.

This forced every Gu cultivator to hesitate, subduing their greed and calming down, avoiding a reckless attack on the inner city.

All surviving Gu cultivators gathered together as the four allied forces besieging the Divine Mechanism City slowly merged, preparing for the final battle.

“There are still over thirty houses with barriers that simply won’t open, no matter what. Such a shame—who knows, there might be a divine herb inside one of those houses,” said the Ninth Young Master, sighing first.

Cai Shao glanced at him, jesting, “What’s wrong? You brought a bunch of Immortal Executioner Thunders; don’t tell me even that couldn’t break through those barriers?”

The Ninth Young Master snorted coldly, “Why ask if you already know? Those barriers can’t be broken by any external force—you have to rely on your own power.”

“There are plenty of disposable spirit artifacts and talismans like Immortal Executioner Thunder. If those things were really effective, the sturdiest houses here would have been torn apart by previous treasure hunters long ago. Would it still be our turn?”

Thinking about it, the Ninth Young Master was infuriated, nearly driven to madness.

Previously, during his battle with Cai Shao, they had fought for only a short while. The Soul-Nourishing Tree branch was quickly split in two in their struggle, with each receiving half.

Since both had gained something, they rationally decided not to continue fighting, understanding that further conflict would only lead to mutual harm with no gain for either side.

But in the brief moment of delay, someone had entered a house containing the Golden Toad. The Ninth Young Master was absolutely livid.

The one who took the Golden Toad was an unfamiliar man with the ability to control a large number of puppets. The Ninth Young Master surmised he must be a rare profession within the Gu world—a Puppeteer.

However, as he frantically searched the city for this Puppeteer, it was as if the man had vanished into thin air, nowhere to be found, leaving the Ninth Young Master nearly spitting blood.

All he could do was test the Immortal Executioner Thunders on other houses, but even that could not breach the barriers.

Not only were the barriers unbreakable, but the walls of the houses were also impervious. They were constructed from incredibly sturdy materials, with barrier layers on the surface that were even stronger than the doors. Ironically, the door sealed by the barrier was the weakest point.

“Where is that Gu clan genius of yours? I don’t see him around. Don’t tell me he’s dead?”

Cai Shao glanced around the crowd, and seeing no trace of the young man in green, he continued to ask.

“If you ask me, who am I supposed to ask? How would I know!” The Ninth Young Master shot him a glare. “Don’t assume he’s with me. I hardly know him.”

“The Divine Mechanism City has taken countless lives during this siege. The danger isn’t only from puppets but from human malice as well. Any genius can die here. For all we know, he could have been killed and vanished without a trace, as happens with every corpse here.”

The Ninth Young Master wore a serious expression. He alone knew that Gu Tianyi was carrying a Sea Stabilizing Pill, which would allow him to transform into a Spiritual Sea-stage Gu cultivator at any time.

Who here could defeat him? Who could kill a Spiritual Sea-stage Gu cultivator? Could there be more than one Spiritual Sea-stage cultivator here? And if so, who was this hidden Spiritual Sea cultivator? The Ninth Young Master pondered with a heavy heart.

Meanwhile, Long Xuan nudged Di Xin’s shoulder, sending a soul message, “Hey! You really took down a Spiritual Sea-stage Gu cultivator? Quite impressive, aren’t you?”

Di Xin gave him a blank look, sighing, “Don’t misunderstand. I don’t have that ability. My greatest asset is my vast collection of peak-grade Gu insects. That person’s ability counters mine, so how could I possibly kill him?”

“That forbidden pill he used must have had a limited duration. My original plan was to exhaust him by avoiding a direct confrontation.”

“But Yang Zhan, thinking I was in danger, intervened using the power of a Spiritual Sea-stage Gu cultivator to take him down. Now, I owe him a life debt! I didn’t need saving! How can I ever repay this favor?”

Long Xuan looked at her seriously.

He was good at catching onto key words, and Di Xin had said her greatest asset was her 'vast' collection of peak-grade Gu insects.

Why use the word “vast”? Surely ten peak-grade Gu insects couldn’t be described as “vast,” could they?