The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu - Chapter 123: Long Chao

“Good Thing? Why don’t you go do it yourself?” Long Lie glared at him with irritation.

He was in a difficult situation. The matter concerned the sacred tree of the family, a significant issue that couldn’t be taken lightly. They had to err on the side of caution, believing in its importance even if there was uncertainty.

If he knew about a potential threat and failed to report it, leading to harm to the family’s sacred tree, he would become a true sinner within the family.

It was as if he was being roasted over a fire; there was no way out. Even if he knew it was a trap, he had to charge headfirst into it.

At this moment, he could only hope that the family would be wise. Even if nothing was found, they should still take precautions, especially when washing the eyes, and they should have experts watching him closely.

However, he thought that the higher-ups in the family weren’t fools. With his warning, whether or not this person was a traitor, they would undoubtedly take extra precautions.

Even if he was accused of making a false accusation, it would be worth it if it meant protecting the sacred tree.

After all, a false accusation wasn’t a capital crime. In the face of the family’s greater good, he ultimately decided to risk it all and stand up.

“Who is this person?” Long Lie looked at Long Xuan and asked sternly.

“It’s Long Chen. I suspect he has been taken over by someone. His brain needs to be thoroughly examined,” Long Xuan whispered.

Seeing that Long Lie had agreed, Long Xuan knew that he had successfully distanced himself from the situation and would face no further risk. After this, he decided not to concern himself with it any longer. This would be the only time he would help. If, after his warning, the family still lost the sacred tree, then he truly had no more power to help.

“Him? That doesn’t seem like him at all.”

Long Lie frowned slightly, but recalling Long Xuan’s suspicion that he might have been taken over, particularly in the brain area, he put aside his doubts and immediately headed towards the high platform of the Gu Battle Tournament.

At this moment, Long Wanli had just announced a halftime break. The family elders were preparing to leave the stage when Long Lie suddenly ascended the platform. Under the surprised gazes of the elders, he walked to Long Wanli’s side and whispered something in his ear. Soon, Long Wanli’s expression turned grave.

Although his voice was low, the elders present were all Spiritual Sea stage experts with keen hearing, and they could clearly hear what was said. Very quickly, their expressions changed.

The Fourth Elder frowned first and said, “Long Chen? That doesn’t seem right. He made significant contributions to the family just last year.”

The Tenth Elder snorted and said, “Long Lie has no enmity with him, and no reason to falsely accuse him. Which traitor would wear the word ‘traitor’ on their face? The less someone looks like a traitor, the more likely they are one.”

“Although there is no evidence, I believe what Long Lie says. I think there’s a strong possibility this is true. Why don’t we just arrest him and let me interrogate him personally?”

“No! We can’t alert the enemy!” The Great Elder raised his hand to stop him and said, “Arresting him without solid evidence is a last resort. What if nothing comes of the interrogation? It would only alert the enemy.”

“Since their target is the sacred tree, we might as well turn the tables on them. Let’s set up a trap around the sacred tree and wait for them to fall into it,” the Great Elder narrowed his eyes, revealing a cunning expression.

…

Meanwhile, in a secret chamber, Long Chen was sitting across from someone, sipping tea. He said, “Even though I lost a match, I think I’m still secure in the top twenty. If it weren’t for all the concerns, I wouldn’t have lost that match. Hmph, do they really think I’m afraid of that swarm of bees?”

Long Chao looked at him and said, “Anyway, your task after entering the Holy Land is to kill everyone for me, then create the illusion that the sacred tree was taken. The ranking doesn’t matter to you. Just blend into the top twenty; being too high-profile might complicate things.”

“Naturally,” Long Chen smiled. “But you’re really ruthless. To get all the Divine Dragon Milk Sap, you’re willing to go to such extremes. The family hasn’t treated you poorly.”

“This will cause the Long family to lose a large number of geniuses. The clan will fall into decline. This is your family—can you really go through with it?”

Long Chao’s eyes were devoid of any emotion as he said, “Those who achieve great things don’t fuss over minor details. I don’t want to do this either, but if I don’t, there won’t be enough Divine Dragon Milk. Without enough, I can’t ensure the perfect evolution transformation of the Evil Dragon Emperor’s Eye.”

“Even if I could defeat Long Ziyan and take the first place in the Gu Battle Tournament, the amount of Divine Dragon Milk I would receive wouldn’t be nearly enough. This is my only choice.”

Long Chao’s expression suddenly became somewhat ferocious. “I have no choice. My Evil Dragon Emperor’s Eye is a peak-grade Gu insect, carrying an illusion technique that is a soul seed—the strongest illusion in the Far West. But the Evil Dragon Emperor’s Eye must undergo perfect evolution for the soul seed to affect everyone.”

“Such a powerful illusion technique—how could I let it go to waste if it can’t be used to its full potential? No, I have to use external forces to eliminate all competitors and monopolize the Divine Dragon Wood!” Long Chao’s emotions became agitated, and his voice suddenly grew louder.

Indeed, he was willing to betray his family, even slaughtering a large number of the family’s geniuses, all for the sake of obtaining more Divine Dragon Milk. For this one small reason, he had become so deranged that he would commit such heinous acts.

He would invite external enemies into the family’s sacred land, using them to kill all the geniuses. Then, he would emerge as the only survivor, severely injured and near death, thereby monopolizing all the Divine Dragon Milk. The family would think that the Divine Dragon Milk had long been taken by the enemy and would never suspect it was with him. This was his perfect plan.

To grow stronger, he was willing to sacrifice the family’s well-being in exchange for all the Divine Dragon Milk—truly insane.

Of course, the foreign forces wouldn’t help him for free. There was a condition.

That condition was the Gu formula for the Sou Gu. Obviously, anyone with a bit of sense could see the immense benefits hidden within the formula.

But the Sou Gu formula wouldn’t be traded directly through Long Chao. If it were that simple, they could just capture a Spirit Gathering stage Gu Master from the Long family and torture them for the information—wouldn’t that be easier? After all, the Sou Gu had long been widely used within the Long family.

In fact, every clan had ways to prevent their unique Gu formulas from being leaked. The Long clan’s method was to place a restriction on the souls of all its members, ensuring that no one could pass on the family’s secret Gu formulas. If they tried, the restriction would destroy their soul, killing them instantly.

So whether by offering great rewards or torturing someone at random, it was impossible to obtain the Long family’s secret Gu formulas.

The only way was to use force to break into the Long family’s Library Tower and seize them.

But this required an insider to first sabotage the protective Formation around the family. This was the secret deal between Long Chao and the Hun Clan.

Hearing Long Chao’s words, Long Chen did not show any disdain. Instead, he nodded in approval and said, “Exactly! Those who achieve great things don’t concern themselves with minor details. To accomplish something big, one must be ruthless. You’re doing the right thing.”

“Just make sure you don’t mess up when the time comes. If anything goes wrong on your end and causes significant losses to our clan, don’t blame us for offering you up as a scapegoat,” Long Chen suddenly spoke with a sharp tone.

“Hmph! There’s absolutely no way anything will go wrong on my side. If something does go wrong, it will only be on your end. I warn you, the Long Clan’s Ancestor went out a month ago to seek cooperation with the Western Long Clan. While there’s no Gu King stationed here, this is your only chance.”

“You should be aware of how many Gu Kings the Western Long Clan has. Once our two clans unite, you’ll never have another opportunity to strike. This is your only chance,” Long Chao reminded.

“Our clan will not make any mistakes. We plan to first dispatch a large number of experts to raid the various mountain peaks of the Long Clan, which will inevitably draw out many of their experts to assist.”

“At that moment, I will create chaos in the holy land. They will think they’ve fallen for a trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain and will send their few remaining experts to the sacred land.”

“But what they won’t know is that our real target is not the Sacred Tree, but the Tower of Scriptures. After two diversions, their rear defenses will be thin, and with gaps in the formations, the fall of the Tower of Scriptures is inevitable—no surprises will occur!”

“And what about the sacred land? There are at least twenty Marrow Cleansing stage Gu cultivators there, along with at least one Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivator. Are you sure you can handle so many people by yourself?” Long Chao asked suspiciously.

“Hmph! Don’t underestimate the power of my Brain Gu Clan. The strength of our Brain Gu is entirely dependent on the strength of the host body.”

“Although this host body isn’t very strong, only at the Marrow Cleansing stage of Gu cultivation…”

“But in my Insect bag, I have four corpses of Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivators, and four of my siblings are controlling them.”

“By the time my Hun Clan raids the outskirts of the Long Clan, a large number of their Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivators will surely be drawn away. My four Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivators are enough to bathe the sacred land in blood.”

“Then, when I pierce your heart with a sword, you can just use the Little Strong Gu to feign death. No one else will leave alive,” said the Brain Gu inside Long Chen’s body, full of confidence.

Hearing its plan, Long Chao let out a long breath and felt that such a flawless plan could not possibly fail.

“Good. Remember, the Sou Gu recipe is the most important secret of the Long Clan and is definitely kept on the top floor of the Tower of Scriptures, the ninth floor. Go directly to the ninth floor to find the receipt, and leave immediately after you get it. Don’t be greedy, and don’t waste time on the lower floors. The Tower of Scriptures isn’t far from the sacred land.”

…

Time passed quickly, and by the afternoon, the second half of the Gu Battle Tournament officially began.

Long Xuan arrived late again and jumped onto the same tree, looking out into the distance.

He was anxious to know the outcome of the matter—whether Long Lie had successfully reported it or if he was instead punished for false accusations.

When he saw Long Chen appearing unharmed, his heart sank.

Could it be that the clan didn’t take his words seriously? He frowned.

But when he noticed the clan’s high-ranking members casting a few subtle glances at Long Chen, he knew the matter was resolved and sighed in relief.

As long as the clan paid attention to him and grew cautious, he wouldn’t need to worry about it anymore. He could now focus on eating and drinking.

He shifted his attention to the Gu Battle Tournament in front of him, effectively putting the matter behind him.

The second half of the tournament still had many rounds to go, and it would continue until sunset.

After such a long time, he finally understood the rules of the Gu Battle Tournament. Yes, it wasn’t until now that he paid attention to the rules; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so surprised when he didn’t see any drawing of lots.

The rules of this Gu Battle Tournament were simple: win a match and earn ten points, draw a match and earn five points, lose a match and earn no points.

The ranking of the tournament is based on the total points, with the highest score determining the champion, who would receive the most Divine Dragon Milk.

However, the tournament did not have a set number of rounds; it was entirely time-based and had to end by sunset.

This meant that the faster the battles, the more matches could be fought, and the higher the total points.

If there were too many drawn-out battles, many participants might not even get to fight several rounds, and the champion’s score might not be very high.

As for who fights whom, it’s entirely random, handled by the clan, with no way for participants to intervene.

If you’re unlucky, you might repeatedly run into the top ten contenders, and you’ll just have to accept your bad luck. Every Gu Battle Tournament has its share of unfortunate souls who are strong but fail to make the top twenty.

In the first half, Long Xuan fought ten rounds, winning seven and losing three, earning a total of seventy points. He chose to forfeit the three matches he found difficult, but it wasn’t because he couldn’t win. If he unleashed all his best Gu insects, who among them could be his match?

But there was no point in doing so; it would only expose his trump cards without any real benefit.

He wasn’t the only one who liked to concede. In fact, many others would simply concede when facing a likely unbeatable opponent, speeding up the matches significantly. As a result, Long Xuan had already fought ten rounds in just half a day.

Long Xuan estimated that he could still fight ten rounds in the second half. Relying solely on the seventy points from the first half wasn’t enough to guarantee success. He would likely need to win seven more rounds in the second half to be safe.

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