The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

"By the way, I forgot to ask, what kind of deep grudge do you have against that genius from the Gu Spirit Sect that makes you so determined to kill him?" Long Xuan asked casually.

"It's nothing major. I just saw him kill his own sister and found him disagreeable," Di Xin replied, a faint glimmer of killing intent flashing in her eyes.

Hearing this, Long Xuan's mouth twitched.

He killed his own sister—what does that have to do with her? Why is she so involved?

Di Xin, infamous across the Gu world for plundering treasuries of various clans, was by no means a benevolent figure.

If she were a saint avenging evil, Long Xuan would never believe it.

Could she be... a sister-complex? The thought involuntarily crossed Long Xuan's mind.

---

On the other side, Cai Shao counted the remaining troops with a heavy heart.

If these twenty thousand Gu cultivators continued to attack the inner city of the Divine Mechanism City, they would likely lose at least half of their numbers again.

This would leave fewer than ten thousand surviving Gu cultivators in the end. The casualties were overwhelmingly high—is it truly worth it to keep assaulting the inner city of the Divine Mechanism City?

"The inner city still has fifty thousand puppets. If we twenty thousand continue to assault the inner city, the number of survivors is unlikely to exceed ten thousand," Cai Shao said heavily.

Zhu Yue glanced at him disdainfully and sneered, "Why are you suddenly so sympathetic? This is all voluntary—no one is forcing anyone to attack the city."

"If you want to gain heaven-defying treasures, you should be prepared to lose your life here. If you die here, it’s your own choice—don’t blame anyone else."

Suddenly, Zhu Yue shouted to the crowd, "We’re organizing an assault on the city. If anyone is afraid of dying, they’re free to withdraw now."

"However, after we take down the inner city, anyone who didn’t contribute will not be allowed to step into the inner city. If they try, everyone will attack them on sight."

"Those who don’t want to take risks, please leave and don’t approach the inner city. This way, we can avoid unnecessary misunderstandings."

"For those willing to take a chance for the treasure, stay, and we’ll assault the city together."

"Whether you stay or leave is entirely up to you. Now, everyone, please make your own choice."

Hearing Zhu Yue’s words, Qin Kai gave her a dissatisfied glance. In his opinion, everyone should attack the city together, and those unwilling should be killed—why let them go?

But since this woman’s strength and backing were not inferior to his, offending her recklessly was not wise. So, in the end, he held back his discontent.

At this, everyone exchanged looks of hesitation.

In the end, a few timid ones did not dare to take the risk and slowly withdrew from the crowd.

However, only a small number of people left.

Those who dared to venture into the Sky Island ruins were generally risk-takers; cautious people would never come here in the first place.

Thus, the few who left were far outnumbered by those who chose to stay.

People will die for wealth, and birds for food—especially since the outer city treasures were so incredible, with Soul-Nourishing Wood, the Gu God Bowl, Youth-Preserving Fruits, and Longevity Fruits. How much more astonishing could the inner city’s treasures be?

When the value of the treasures reaches a certain level, many will choose to risk it all.

At this moment, Leng Yan, who belonged to the cautious Gu cultivator group, decided to stop taking risks after obtaining the Youth-Preserving Fruit, as her mission was already accomplished.

"I’ll study the barriers around those thirty houses and see if there’s another way to break through them. I’ll wait for you there!" Leng Yan bid farewell to the group and withdrew from the crowd.

Following her were the timid Miao Peipei, the lively Wu Yaoyao, and, after some thought, Ye Qingluan, who ultimately decided not to risk further and left behind her.

Nie Qingcheng, after much internal struggle, also withdrew from the crowd.

Even among the male Gu cultivators on the Shenlong, most chose to leave, with only a dozen left prepared to assault the city.

Long Xuan was stunned. Were his crew members all so risk-averse? Why were so many cautious by nature?

Other ships’ crews lost only a few here and there, while his own crew withdrew in large numbers, standing out starkly among the crowd.

Di Xin remarked, "It’s because you’ve ‘fattened’ them up. The poorer Gu cultivators are willing to risk their lives for resources, but once a Gu cultivator’s pockets are full, most aren’t inclined to gamble with their lives anymore."

Hearing this, Long Xuan nodded thoughtfully. It seemed there was some truth to it—the poor fear nothing, while the rich cherish their lives.

Although wealthy figures like Ninth Young Master and Cai Shao still prepared to attack the city, it was only because they had enough resources to feel secure and did not perceive any real threat to their lives.

The ones who withdrew were wise. They had no idea that, after sacrificing many lives to break into the inner city, they would gain nothing. The cost and return would be vastly disproportionate.

While the inner city treasures were indeed more valuable than those in the outer city, they would require life-risking stakes in a gamble against an ancient old monster who had lived for countless millennia.

Only by winning the gamble can one take away one of the treasures in the inner city.

That old monster has honed his gambling skills to perfection over countless millennia, winning every game.

He is a true god of gambling, winning ten out of ten bets. Who could possibly outplay a gambling god? Almost everyone who enters the inner city finds it impossible to win against him.

In the end, not only do they fail to obtain any treasures, but they also end up losing their entire fortune. For this reason, most people who enter the inner city don’t encounter any opportunities. Attacking the city at the risk of one's life is simply unwise and leads to great losses; those who play it safe and leave have made the right decision.

As some people in the crowd began to leave, only sixteen thousand Gu cultivators remained, with their numbers reduced by one-fifth.

Next, those who stayed launched an assault on the inner city under the guidance of a few leaders.

Following the same strategy used to attack the outer city, they began a full-scale assault on all four city walls. When the army of Gu cultivators approached the walls, they didn't immediately climb; instead, they used ranged attacks to wear down the puppets on the walls.

Once only the melee-type puppets, positioned at a distance, were left, all the Gu cultivators then climbed the walls to clear the last of the puppet army’s forces.

The strongest Gu cultivators focused on besieging the gold and silver puppets on the walls. Since Long Xuan’s strength had been revealed, he had to shoulder more responsibilities and again faced a gold puppet.

With the experience from last time, he teamed up with Di Xin, and taking down a gold puppet wasn’t difficult for him.

After about half an hour, the Gu cultivator army successfully ascended the wall, wiping out all the puppets on it.

After clearing the inner city of all puppets, the allied forces from all sides finally converged.

By now, the Gu cultivator army had dwindled to only five thousand, with more than half having perished in this battle.

Such heavy losses cast a somber mood over everyone.

In previous openings of the Sky Island ruins, while over half would perish, tens of thousands of Gu cultivators at least survived.

This time was undoubtedly the deadliest, and including those outside, fewer than ten thousand Gu cultivators were still alive.

No previous opening of the Sky Island ruins had ever resulted in so many deaths. This generation had indeed broken the record for casualties.

Long Xuan scanned the faces of the survivors, looking for those to whom he owed a debt. He sighed to himself, thinking, “Good heavens, counting those outside, I now only need to refine Sea Converging Pills for around forty people; the rest of my debtors are all dead. Such light work!”

He had anticipated that more than half of his creditors would die after entering the Sky Island ruins, but he had not expected this many.

Exchanging just a few Sea Converging Pills for the entire Black Dragon Pirates of five hundred was indeed a profitable deal.

“It’s normal,” Shui Juanyun sighed, breaking the heavy silence. “For some unknown reason, the puppets in the Divine Mechanism City become deadlier year after year. As the Sky Island ruins open more frequently, the casualties among Gu cultivators increase every time.”

“Meanwhile, as the world’s spiritual power gradually diminishes, the overall strength of Gu talents declines each year. Because of these two factors, the casualties in this assault are so severe.”

“With the next opening of the Sky Island ruins, the death toll might even surpass this time.”

“We shouldn’t worry about how many died,” said Qin Kai with a grin, looking at the splendid palace before them. “No matter how many perish, it has nothing to do with those of us still alive. The treasures in the city are destined for the living. With fewer people, the loot for those of us left only increases.”

Qin Kai continued, “The other buildings have been ransacked, and the quality of treasures matches those in the outer city.”

“I think all the most precious treasures of the inner city must be concentrated in this palace.”

Zhu Yue laughed. “This palace stands at the very center of the Divine Mechanism City. Surely, the city’s treasure is hidden inside.”

“However, any place storing the most valuable treasures will inevitably be highly dangerous.”

“I observe that numerous puppets are concealed throughout the palace, so I haven’t recklessly gone inside.”

“Now that we’re all here, why don’t we charge in together?”

At that, many of the Gu cultivators looked disheartened. They had already seen enough deaths; they truly didn’t want to risk any more.

But having come this far, how could they simply turn back?

If they retreated now, all their previous efforts would have been in vain. Each had paid a heavy price to reach this point, and no one wanted to leave so close to the end.

A mad determination filled the eyes of all the Gu cultivators, and not one left.

Long Xuan, however, remained relaxed, as if he had no concern for the palace puppets.

Through Di Xin, he had learned detailed information about the Sky Island ruins, and based on his assessment, this battle was unlikely to occur.

The gold puppets inside were likely just for decoration, and if they could move, they wouldn’t.

The reason was simple: if the gold puppets truly could move, then more than half of these Gu cultivators would die.

The god of gambling's goal was to attract more Gu cultivators to the island, not to kill as many as possible.

If he slaughtered too many, and barely anyone survived to leave Sky Island, there wouldn’t be many willing to return the next time the ruins opened.

This was not something the god of gambling wished to see.

Thus, Long Xuan was convinced that the puppets inside the palace would not strike again.

For sustainable development, that god of gambling would definitely not engage in further rampant slaughter of the Gu cultivators.