The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

Long Ruoxue smiled as she explained, "The Silver Moon Mantis is a very special species of insect, and its grade depends on its comprehension ability."

"Just like how there can be a world of difference in intelligence between humans, insects are no exception."

Her gaze suddenly shifted to Long Biao, filled with deeper meaning, as if this remark was directed at him.

"The Silver Moon Mantises have varying levels of comprehension. The ones with higher comprehension will naturally master stronger blade techniques and learn much faster than those with lower comprehension."

"As time goes on, the gap between them will widen, eventually becoming as vast as the sky and earth, almost as if they were two entirely different species."

"And since the difference is so great, it naturally requires a division of grades."

"The mantises with the worst comprehension are of low-grade quality, while those with the best comprehension are peak-grade quality."

"Even though there are many Silver Moon Mantises here, more than 90% are low-grade, and less than 10% are peak-grade. In fact, there are only about a dozen peak-grade mantises here."

"And how do you determine the comprehension ability of each Silver Moon Mantis? The only way is to teach them blade techniques and observe their learning speed."

"That's why every Silver Moon Mantis here is diligently learning, sparring with others day and night, practicing their blade techniques with all their might, afraid that they might be classified as low-grade."

"If they fall into the low-grade category, their future owner will be a Gu cultivator of poor aptitude and limited potential, sealing their fate with no hope of becoming strong."

"They are highly intelligent creatures. They fully understand the future that awaits them and know exactly what they need to do to secure a better life. So, every Silver Moon Mantis here works tirelessly, training day and night in fierce competition. The entire colony is caught in a terrifying spiral of self-improvement."

Hearing this, Long Xuan grew even more intrigued by these little creatures. This was a group of ambitious insects, each Silver Moon Mantis had a desire for progress, a yearning to become stronger, and they trained diligently with great self-discipline.

Where could he find such driven creatures? He liked these insects that could cultivate themselves with such effort—it was so much less of a hassle for him.

"The peak-grade Silver Moon Mantises are on the second floor. There's no need to look at the ones on the first floor," Long Ruoxue said as she started heading upstairs, followed by the others.

At this moment, Long Ruoxue received a reply. She pulled out a piece of paper from her insect-bag, glanced at the writing on it, then turned to Long Ziyan with a smile, "The family has agreed. You are allowed to pick a peak-grade Silver Moon Mantis as well, but you're only permitted to choose one."

"Don’t think that’s too little. The process of refining a Blade Gu is quite unique. There’s no written Gu formula for the Blade Gu; you have to write the required materials yourself."

"But you can only have one of each type of spirit insect, except for peak-grade spirit insects. Otherwise, having multiple main materials in the Gu formula will result in a failed refinement."

"In the end, the strength of the Blade Gu depends on how many types of materials you include. The more materials, the stronger the Blade Gu will be."

"However, as the number of materials increases, so does the failure rate, which grows infinitely higher. The number of materials in the Blade Gu formula is directly proportional to the risk of failure."

"This is where the refiner must decide how to balance their choices. If you prefer stability, write fewer materials. But if you like to take risks and want to refine an even stronger Blade Gu, write more materials. However, if you fail, you’ll not only waste a peak-grade Silver Moon Mantis, but you’ll also lose an enormous amount of materials. You must be prepared for the possibility of losing a vast amount of resources."

"It is said that one of our ancestors successfully refined a Blade Gu using one million types of materials. That level of Blade Gu had armor-piercing abilities that could affect every living creature in this world."

"But the success rate for a Blade Gu with millions of materials is almost zero. The chances are infinitesimally small, requiring a sea of materials to have even a sliver of success."

"Although that level of Blade Gu is extremely powerful, the cost is so exorbitant that it's simply not worth it."

"As for Blade Gu requiring materials numbering in the billions, no one in our clan's history has ever succeeded, and perhaps no one has even attempted to refine one."

"No one knows how powerful such a Blade Gu would be, or what terrifying changes its armor-piercing ability would undergo."

"I definitely don’t have the courage to attempt refining a Blade Gu of that magnitude."

"My own Blade Gu formula only included around 5,000 materials. At that time, I had to muster all my determination to use so many materials, but fortunately, goddess of luck was on my side, and I succeeded in the end."

"The fewer materials in a Blade Gu formula, the lower the failure rate. After generations of research by our family, it’s been determined that a Blade Gu with 500 materials has a 100% success rate."

"So even if you only have one Silver Moon Mantis, as long as you're not greedy, you can guarantee the successful refinement of a Blade Gu."

"And if your main material is a peak-grade Silver Moon Mantis, even with only 500 materials, it would still be an incredibly powerful peak-grade Gu insect. There's no need to take unnecessary risks."

"Don't follow my example; focus on stability. Wouldn’t it be satisfying to guarantee a peak-grade Gu insect? There's no need to gamble, or you’ll have nowhere to cry if you lose."

Upon hearing this, Long Ziyan remained calm, but Long Xuan's eyes lit up with excitement, his heart racing.

The Blade Gu is an insect without a set formula, and the number of materials can be written indefinitely, making its strength limitless. What a creative approach to Gu refinement!

This method of refining Gu was too interesting and perfectly suited to him. It felt as though this Gu formula had been tailor-made for him.

"Just one question: how many types of spirit insects exist in this world?"

Long Xuan's sudden question left everyone stunned. All eyes turned toward him with puzzled expressions

“You're asking what that means? Don’t tell me you're planning to use every type of spirit insect in the world to refine Gu. What on earth are you thinking to do something so crazy? Is the world not big enough for you? How can you be so arrogant?”

Long Ruoxue stared at him with wide eyes, utterly shocked by his words.

The learned Long Ziyan looked at him and said, “It’s impossible for you to succeed. Every region has its own unique species of insects, and you don’t have the time to travel to every region.”

“Moreover, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is so thin that over ninety percent of spirit insects have already gone extinct over the long course of history.”

“You would have to go to the Spirit Realm or the Divine Realm to find more species of insects.”

“Even so, the number of insect species in this world is astronomical. But remember, not every insect qualifies to be called a spirit insect. The ordinary insects of the mortal world can’t be used to refine Gu. In the Gu world, there are over a billion types of insects, but only a few million can truly be called spirit insects.”

“If you don't travel to various regions, in the Western Lands, the best you can do is refine a blade Gu of a few hundred thousand tiers, which is the limit. The conditions simply don't allow for something as crazy as what you're thinking.”

Hearing this, Long Xuan felt a bit disappointed. She was right—this world’s spiritual energy was too thin, and countless species of spirit insects had gone extinct. If he wanted to achieve his dream, his only option was to search for the legendary Spirit Realm.

A blade Gu of a few hundred thousand tiers was already his limit. Still, even collecting materials from hundreds of thousands of types would be an astronomical expense.

Another bankrupt Gu recipe—Long Xuan winced. Was this going to cost him his life savings again? It seemed like he would have to figure out how to make a fortune quickly.

“Let’s not talk about that anymore. Let’s pick a Silver Moon Mantis first. There are only about ten peak-grade Silver Moon Mantises, so there's not much choice. Who wants to pick first?” Long Ruoxue suddenly asked.

By now, the group had reached the far end of the second floor. Upon entering, Long Xuan immediately noticed that the number of Silver Moon Mantises here was far fewer than on the first floor, but the quality was significantly higher.

The second floor appeared to house high-grade and top-grade Silver Moon Mantises, with the most insightful ones gathered here.

These Silver Moon Mantises were diligently practicing their blade techniques. Even though they had already reached great heights, they still relentlessly pursued greater strength, training tirelessly.

However, one particular Silver Moon Mantis caught his attention. It seemed isolated from the group, standing there all alone. None of its kind wanted to spar with it, leaving it in a pitiful and lonely state.

The reason Long Xuan noticed it immediately wasn’t because it looked pitiful, but because it appeared so bizarre. This Silver Moon Mantis was born with ten blades.

Incredible! It was born with eight more blades than the others. Two hands can barely handle four blades—let alone ten. Who could possibly fight against it?

This Silver Moon Mantis was invincible.

Seeing this Silver Moon Mantis, Long Xuan instantly thought of the "Ten-Blade Style" from his previous life. This mantis was perfect for developing such a style.

Whether it’s a one-blade or two-blade style, could anything be more terrifying than a ten-blade style?

Long Xuan was a complete novice when it came to blade techniques, but in his mind, he believed that multiple blades would always win against fewer blades.

Naturally, he thought that multi-blade styles would triumph over fewer-blade styles. The more blades, the stronger.

Normal people only had two hands, which meant at most a two-blade style, but his mantis had a ten-blade style. Wouldn't that make it invincible in the human world?

He immediately took a liking to this mantis and decided to choose it.

This world probably didn’t have the concept of a ten-blade style, and naturally, no ten-blade techniques existed. But that was fine—if there were no ten-blade techniques, he would create one himself.

He already had a rough outline in mind.

The first form: Blade-Breaking Form.

Used to break through all sword techniques in the world.

The second form: Saber-Breaking Form.

Used to counter single-blade, dual-blade, willow-leaf saber, ghost-head saber, large machete, horse-slaying saber, and other saber techniques.

The third form: Spear-Breaking Form.

Used to counter spears, halberds, pikes, quarterstaffs, wolf-tooth clubs, waxwood poles, monk’s spades, and other long weapons.

The fourth form: Whip-Breaking Form.

Used to counter steel whips, cudgels, daggers, axes, battle-axes, iron cards, octagonal hammers, and iron maces.

The fifth form: Rope-Breaking Form.

Used to counter long ropes, short whips, three-section staffs, chain spears, iron chains, fishing nets, flying hammers, and meteor hammers.

The sixth form: Palm-Breaking Form.

Used to counter all kinds of hand-to-hand combat techniques, including fist techniques, finger strikes, claw skills, palm strikes, and grappling techniques.

The seventh form: Arrow-Breaking Form.

Used to counter all kinds of projectile weapons.

The eighth form: Spirit-Breaking Form.

Used to counter all kinds of spiritual martial techniques.

The ninth form: Armor-Breaking Form.

Used to counter all types of soft and hard armors.

The tenth form: Shield-Breaking Form.

Used to counter all kinds of shields.

Didn’t this mantis have ten blades? Then it could use one form for each blade, and with all ten forms unleashed, nothing could withstand it. Which opponent could stand against it?

Anyone facing these ten blades would be instantly defeated, with no chance to defend.

This blade technique was ruthless. He would name it the "Ten Absolute Blade Technique," or simply "Ten Absolutes Blades" for short.

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