The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

His combat abilities were insufficient, leaving him constrained in every action he took. If his strength were more formidable, he wouldn't hesitate to explore even an ancient tomb. Thus, his next objective was to enhance his combat power, preferably by refining a powerful external Gu. Having such an external Gu would greatly improve his one-on-one combat capability.

In the Gu world, there has been endless debate over whether external Gu or internal Gu is superior. The controversy is significant since one is used for external combat, and the other grants the Gu cultivator powerful abilities—two completely different systems that are indeed hard to compare.

However, it is unquestionable that during the Spirit Gathering stage, external Gu is far superior to internal Gu. This point is entirely undisputed. This is because Gu cultivators at the Gathering Spirit stage are just beginning their cultivation, and their internal spiritual power reserves are extremely scarce.

No matter how powerful the abilities of an internal Gu might be, without sufficient spiritual power, the internal Gu’s abilities cannot be fully utilized. It might even deplete the spiritual power after just one use or may not even be usable once.

Due to the limitation of insufficient spiritual power in the early stages, the benefits of internal Gu are naturally far inferior to external Gu. Hence, most Gu cultivators in the Spirit Gathering or Marrow cleansing stages primarily focus on refining external Gu, and they can hide behind them during battles.

Thus, refining an external Gu is undoubtedly the best choice for quickly improving combat power. This is precisely why Long Xuan’s sales of the Little Strong Gu plummeted early on.

Gu cultivators are a rare group, with just a few people in the entire market. Given that each type of Gu insect can only be owned once and that most Gu cultivators only refine external Gu, the market for Little Strong Gu has long been saturated.

The poor sales of Little Strong Gu severely impacted Long Xuan’s economic resources, making the collection of materials for the Divine ice Flame an indefinite task.

Thinking of this, Long Xuan's good mood from creating a new technique vanished instantly. To refine an external Gu, one must first earn money. Reluctantly, Long Xuan had to leave his house to seek a fortune.

Sometimes, timing is everything. Long Xuan strolled around the market and happened to hear about a treasure exchange event being held that day, specifically for loose cultivators in the Spirit Gathering stage.

He was overjoyed and immediately followed the crowd to join in the excitement.

The treasure exchange event was not like the market's usual stall transactions; in terms of scale, stalls couldn't compare to the treasure exchange event. Who would dare display priceless items at a stall? It would be asking for trouble. Hence, the more concealed treasure exchange events emerged.

Of course, not every Gu cultivator in the market could attend. To participate in the treasure exchange event, one must have a certain level of wealth and a good reputation, with no rumors of killing for treasure. Loose cultivators with a penchant for robbery and murder were strictly excluded, as their presence would disrupt the event.

Additionally, after the event, it was strictly forbidden to spread information about who possessed what treasures. And those Big talkers were naturally excluded as well. Although the restrictions were somewhat loose, those who violated them wouldn’t be allowed to participate in future events and would face collective resistance.

With these conditions in place, only a few people qualified to attend the treasure exchange event, and a small secret room could accommodate them.

This small group of people was of high quality, each possessing a certain level of wealth. Hence, the treasure exchange event was bound to feature various rare treasures, items rarely seen outside.

These treasures would be impossible to find at a stall. Attending such an event would broaden one's horizons, even if there were no gains. If one hoped to find a rare bargain, the treasure exchange event was the place to be.

Long Xuan harbored hopes of finding a rare bargain, aiming to discover a treasure worth millions that others failed to recognize, thus solving his financial problems instantly.

With these pleasant thoughts, Long Xuan eagerly followed a few female loose cultivators into a two-story building, Then he turned left and right and entered a hidden secret room. The gatekeeper did not stop him.

His name was well-known throughout the market as the creator of the Little Strong Gu.

Having amassed wealth through Little Strong Gu sales, Long Xuan was quite well-off among the financially-strapped loose cultivators and naturally qualified to participate in the treasure exchange event.

Upon entering the venue, Long Xuan’s eyes lit up. Despite being held in an underground secret room, the venue was surprisingly bright and well-decorated. Many loose cultivators were already engaged in small-scale transactions.

Scanning the room, Long Xuan saw over ten round tables, each surrounded by people. Acquaintances sat together, eating snacks, fruits, and drinking tea, engaging in cheerful conversations. Some even displayed their treasures on the tables. There were about a hundred people present.

Not every wealthy loose cultivator could attend; only a small portion had the time. This kind of event was held periodically, so missing one wasn't a big deal.

As Long Xuan arrived, many eyes turned towards him.

“A rare guest indeed! I never expected my treasure exchange event to attract such a recluse like you. Is this your first time attending? Surely, you must have something good!”

A veiled beauty in a yellow dress teased from not far away.

Long Xuan, whether as an entomologist in his past life or as a Gu cultivator in this life, was a research fanatic, always staying at home, oblivious to outside matters, and solely focused on his research, making him quite out of touch with news.

It wasn’t that he deliberately avoided such events; he simply never knew when they were held. Otherwise, he would have attended, as it was a great opportunity for him to strike it rich, which was necessary for his research.

Following the voice, Long Xuan saw a stunning veiled woman standing nearby. He didn't know what was wrong with the beauties in this world, they all liked to wear veils.

Despite being out of touch, Long Xuan recognized her. There were only three people in the market selling exclusive high-quality Gu insects, and she was one of them, making a fortune through these sales.

She was also a rare formation master. Loose cultivators were typically poor and homeless, rarely needing expensive formation disks to guard their homes, making this skill less lucrative for her. However, she often used her skills to access treasure troves and herb gardens of small Gu cultivation Clans, becoming a famous thief.

Those who frequently broke into large families to steal treasures using their formation-breaking skills were known as “formation infiltrator” in this world. These individuals, able to silently breach large family protection formations and steal treasures, were despised by all major families.

This woman, Di Xin, was such a formation infiltrator, known for targeting only Gu cultivation Clans and not loose cultivators. Long Xuan’s most vivid memory of her was her fear of cockroaches, which was why she refused to buy his Little Strong Gu.

It was precisely because Long Xuan was the only one selling cockroach-type Gu insects in the market, she also remembered him well.

“Ah, it’s Sister Xin. My apologies. I usually avoid treasure exchange events, but hearing that you’re hosting one, I rushed over immediately. I must show respect to Sister Xin.”

Though he previously missed these events due to lack of information, he knew the art of conversation, understanding how to bridge distances between people.

Hearing this, Di Xin laughed lightly, covering her mouth. “I didn’t expect to have such a great influence, attracting you here despite your busy schedule. My treasure exchange event will surely not disappoint you.”

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