The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu - Chapter 148: The Secret of the Long Clan in the Western Lands

Long Xuan collected himself and sighed, “Honestly, I feel quite ashamed. To tell you the truth, I only have a 50% chance of successfully replacing the missing materials for the Dragon Blood Battle Gu. Moreover, the experiment will require a massive amount of materials, so you’d better be mentally prepared.”

“And I don’t like being monitored. When I’m working on the Gu recipe, I can’t have anyone overseeing me. If you trust me, then let me do it. If you don’t, then find someone else.”

Upon hearing this, Long Qian’s eyes lit up. A 50% success rate? That was incredibly high, far beyond his expectations.

With such a high probability of success, it became something they absolutely had to pursue.

“A 50% success rate is already quite high. As for your concern about not liking supervision, don’t worry. If I trust someone, I don’t doubt them, and if I doubt them, I won’t use them. I fully trust your character and believe you won’t resort to any corrupt practices!”

Long Qian, overjoyed, agreed to Long Xuan’s conditions without hesitation.

Seeing how much trust Long Qian placed in him, Long Xuan felt a bit guilty. He had trusted the wrong person—he wasn’t just planning to be corrupt; he intended to take everything. Whatever materials came in, he would consume it all.

Yet despite embezzling all the research funds, Long Xuan would still manage to produce results and give the family a satisfactory answer. Isn’t that impressive?

“Let’s settle this. For now, take your time to rest and prepare for the battle. After the tournament, we’ll proceed with researching the Dragon Blood Battle Gu recipe. The family also needs time to gather the remaining materials for it,” Long Qian said excitedly as he stood up.

“Rest assured, I’m bound to win this tournament. Take care!” Long Xuan also stood up to see him off.

Only after watching Long Qian walk far away did Long Xuan close the door and return to his room, a smile of excitement appearing on his face.

It seemed that coming to the Western Lands was the right move. He had barely arrived and already made such a huge gain.

For him, the birth of the Ten-Armed Blade Gu was now on a countdown. He just needed to wait patiently. The matter of materials was no longer his concern.

Returning to his seat, Long Xuan picked up pen and paper with practiced ease, hovering the pen over the blank sheet.

The process of refining the Blade Gu was special. It belonged to a universal Gu recipe, meaning that any materials written down would work.

So, this time, there was no need for him to create a new Gu recipe, saving him quite a bit of effort.

In fact, he felt that there wasn’t even a need to write down the recipe at all. Others might carefully select materials for the Saber Gu recipe, but he didn’t need to, because his goal was to capture all kinds of insects—all of them.

Since he intended to capture every species of spirit insect, why bother with a recipe? Just catch them all. Writing a recipe would be redundant.

However, creating the “Ten Absolute Blade Technique” was something that required his full attention.

The “Ten Absolute Blade Technique” was not something easily created, yet it had to be done. He had no idea how long it would take to come up with such a Blade technique, and the thought of it made him feel a bit stressed.

After jotting down the outline he had in mind, Long Xuan’s pen suddenly froze in midair, his expression confused and blank.

Unsurprisingly, as soon as he started, he got writer’s block again.

He had no clue how to create a Blade technique that could break all sword techniques in the world.

Nor did he know how to create a Blade technique that could counter all others.

This was way too difficult! He couldn’t think of a thing!

How could anyone know how to break everything in the world?

You ask me, and who should I ask? The village chief?

Long Xuan was at his wit’s end. To think that he was still a complete novice when it came to saber techniques. He had no understanding of them, so how could he even begin to create a technique?

Especially a top-tier technique, which was the most ambitious concept imaginable. There was no way a novice like him could come up with it.

He hadn’t even learned to crawl, but he was already trying to run. His ambitions had outpaced his ability, leaving him stuck and unable to move forward. His mind was completely blank, and after a long while, he couldn’t come up with a single word.

If someone who had never touched a Blade could create a Blade technique, that would truly be a miracle.

Blade techniques, unlike spiritual techniques, martial arts, or cultivation methods, were all about skill. They required insight and continuous practice with others to gain experience. How could you just rely on words to come up with something like that?

Insight was something that couldn’t be conveyed with mere words. Many Blade techniques even required diagrams, and drawing diagrams was even harder to fake.

How could he possibly create a Blade technique at this point? Long Xuan realized that his ideas were too far-fetched, beyond his current abilities. This was something he simply couldn’t handle.

Taking a deep breath, Long Xuan decided to go with his usual approach. When he hit a creative block, he’d go out and seek inspiration. In the past, whenever he was stuck, he would always get ideas from Elder Long. Now that Elder Long wasn’t around, he would have to find another way.

It was a stroke of luck, really. The Western Lands’ Long Clan had arranged for him to stay near the Library Tower. If that wasn’t inviting a thief into the house, what was? This was like an opportunity sent from the heavens.

Such generosity couldn’t be refused. If he didn’t check out what was inside the Library Tower, then staying in such a prime location would be wasted.

Long Xuan chuckled and lay down on his bed, closing his eyes as he activated his Origin realm, copying everything inside the Library Tower.

After a while, Long Xuan’s consciousness appeared in a place identical to the Library Tower. Gazing at the countless bookshelves around him, his smile grew even wider.

There were so many Blade, Saber and sword techniques! His eyes sparkled as he looked around.

The Long Clan possessed the Evil Dragon Emperor’s Eye, which liked to break swords with one strike. So naturally, they loved collecting sword techniques and were a clan of sword users.

The Long Clan also had Blade Gu, which required Blade techniques to enhance the Gu’s power, so they also loved collecting Blade techniques and were a clan of Blade users.

The Long Clan excelled in both swords and sabers, and when it came to their collection of saber and sword techniques, few forces could match them.

After all, they were the main clan. Even the Far West Long Clan’s collection paled in comparison to the Western Lands Long Clan’s.

To Long Xuan, it felt like he had entered a massive treasure trove, filled with endless knowledge for him to take. And it was all free—he could learn whatever he wanted.

At the moment, he was on the first floor of the Library Tower, where everything was dedicated to saber and sword techniques. The vast number of techniques filled shelf after shelf, stretching as far as the eye could see.

However, having too many techniques wasn’t necessarily a good thing, as it made choosing difficult. Long Xuan didn’t know where to start, feeling conflicted as he gazed upon the sea of books. The sheer quantity was overwhelming, making it hard to muster the desire to master them all.

The initial excitement of seeing so many books soon gave way to his laziness. He no longer felt the motivation to learn all of them.

Luckily, he had clones. He might not want to study, but his clones loved to learn. So, he decided to let his clones do all the studying, while he reaped the benefits of their work.

Just as Long Xuan was about to slack off, his expression suddenly froze. He walked toward a wall, gently knocking on it. A hollow sound echoed from within. There was a hidden door here, concealing something unknown.

Since he had already copied the entire Library Tower and could access with bird eye-like view, there was no way a secret chamber could escape his notice.

He was startled. There was actually a hidden door here. Where could this secret door lead, and what treasures were concealed inside?

After his initial shock, Long Xuan felt anticipation rising within him. Something stored in a secret chamber must be extremely important. Otherwise, why hide it so securely?

Any secret chamber is bound to contain something extraordinary; this is a rule of thumb.

Long Xuan’s face lit up with excitement, ready to explore and find out for himself.

Here, he didn’t need to be cautious. Using the Five Elements Jade, he destroyed the door and discovered a spiral staircase leading downward.

Long Xuan was momentarily stunned. Could the library tower actually have a basement level?

Given how secretively the staircase was designed, whatever was stored on the basement floor must be extraordinary.

His curiosity piqued, Long Xuan couldn’t be bothered to guess what it might be. He grabbed a lantern and eagerly jumped down.

It wasn’t long before his eyes brightened—he had arrived at yet another area filled with bookshelves.

Bookshelves were everywhere. A sea of books stretched before him, even more than on the first floor.

However, these books were special. They were incredibly thick, resembling dictionaries—countless dictionaries.

Long Xuan showed a hint of disappointment. To think the basement contained more books, and piled up ones at that! But then again, this was a library tower. What else would it hold other than books?

Still, items become more valuable when they are rare. With so many books here, it was unlikely they were all world-shaking secret techniques. Their value was probably no different from the books on the upper floors.

This was far from what he had expected. He had imagined that there might be some heaven-defying treasure below. But this?

Feeling disappointed, Long Xuan casually picked up a book from the nearest shelf, flipped through a few pages, and skimmed it.

But as he read, his eyes suddenly widened, revealing a look of excitement. He was completely hooked.

Just a moment ago, he had been uninterested, but now his spirits had risen in an instant. Whatever was in this book, it had surprised him immensely.

He quickly put the book down and dashed to another bookshelf, pulling out another book and flipping through a few pages before putting it down again. He continued flipping through book after book, his breath becoming more rapid, his eyes glowing brighter and brighter. He was thoroughly exhilarated.

Good stuff. This was absolutely good stuff. He retracted his earlier thoughts—these books in the basement were indeed heaven-defying treasures. He had truly stumbled upon a treasure trove!

As for the contents of these books, no one would have imagined.

In an ancient era, the complete version of the “Evil Dragon Emperor’s Eye” could shatter any ability in the world, defeating all enemies.

As a result, the ancestors of the Long Clan knew the methods to break any ability.

And because they were bored, those ancestors wrote down all the methods for breaking various abilities in books. Over time, the number of books grew, until they eventually formed massive volumes, resembling dictionaries.

They even categorized the books meticulously. There were entire volumes dedicated to techniques for breaking different sword arts, divided into many volumes from (1) to (10). Almost every sword technique in the world could be found in the index.

There were also volumes dedicated to breaking palm techniques, also divided into multiple volumes. In their indices, nearly every palm technique in the world was listed.

The same was true for various spirit techniques, cultivation methods, body refining techniques, illusion arts, and Gu insects. The methods for breaking these were all written down and compiled into books for permanent safekeeping.

In short, this place contained methods to counter every ability in existence—an ultimate guide to breaking all techniques. You could find the names of any peerless skill in the world listed in the indices of these books.

This was nothing short of a vast treasure trove, gathering the collective wisdom of countless Long Clan ancestors. It was the most valuable legacy they had left for future generations, and the knowledge here was priceless.

At this point, Long Xuan finally understood why this place had been so tightly sealed and never opened to the clan members.

This was something that could invite disaster. If you knew how to break the abilities of any major power, how could they ever feel secure? How could they tolerate your existence?

Thus, this place had to remain sealed forever. The fewer people who knew about it, the safer the clan would be. Among the Long Clan, probably fewer than five people knew of this place’s existence.

For Long Xuan to have accidentally found this place—it was fate.

He had just been at a loss over how to create the Ten Absolute Blade Technique, and now, here he was, thrown into this treasure trove.

In this treasure trove, he could find the methods to break any ability in the world, including techniques to counter various spear arts and hammer arts. Even obscure weapons’ techniques were included, with methods for breaking them all recorded in these books.

Now, would it be difficult for him to summarize these methods, integrate them, and create his own Ten Absolute Blade Technique, capable of breaking all techniques? Not at all. In fact, he was already feeling inspired.

The only problem was that it would take a long time to read through all these books.

But no matter—it was time for his clones to handle this.

Excited, Long Xuan immediately summoned all five of his clones.

“Learn! Learn everything thoroughly!” he commanded.

The clones emerged and, upon seeing the mountain of books before them, were instantly overwhelmed.

They were all dumbfounded, feeling dizzy at the sight.

“My goodness, how long will this take? The original body is really too much,” they muttered.

“You too! Learn it all, even if it kills you!” Long Xuan said, pulling the consciousness of his Silver Moon Mantis into the mix and throwing it into the first-floor section full of sword techniques.

“From now on, you’ll self-study here and become a master through self-learning!”

“I believe in you!” he encouraged.

The Silver Moon Mantis looked around at its unfamiliar surroundings, its expression filled with confusion.

But as soon as it saw the countless sword techniques, it became excited and rushed to the nearest bookshelf, quickly pulling out a sword technique book to read.

The Silver Moon Mantis was known for its diligence and discipline, as all Silver Moon Mantises were obsessed with cultivation and driven to become stronger.

Especially this one, which had been ostracized by its entire species since birth. Its desire for strength was even more intense, and no Silver Moon Mantis worked harder than it did.

So, now that it had ended up in a place full of sword techniques, it was overjoyed. It had no aversion to reading and was filled with enthusiasm. It couldn’t wait to start reading.

It had its eyes set on mastering all the sword techniques here. Its eyes gleamed with ambition.

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