The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

At this moment, Long Xuan's eyes couldn't focus on any other mantis, and he immediately said, "No need to choose anymore, I feel a connection with this one. I'll take it!"

Long Xuan pointed at the mantis with ten arms.

His words not only surprised Long Ruoxue but also the ten-armed mantis itself. It didn't expect anyone would choose it, and soon, a look of joy appeared in its eyes.

"Are you sure you want to choose it? This Silver Moon Mantis was born with eight extra arms compared to a normal one, making it a deformity."

"It has been rejected by the other Silver Moon Mantises and despised by all the Gu cultivators in the Long family. No one wants it."

"Who knows what might happen when refining a Gu with a deformed mantis? No one dares to take that risk," Long Ruoxue kindly reminded him.

In this world, not only humans can be born with deformities, but so can insects. It’s not uncommon for an insect to have extra limbs or even multiple heads.

However, a deformed body is never a good thing. She had never seen a deformed person become powerful, so she didn't have high hopes for this inherently deformed Silver Moon Mantis, and she didn't recommend Long Xuan to choose it.

She didn't know that Long Xuan, who was new to the Dao of the Blade, had chosen this mantis for the simple reason that the more blades, the better. In his mind, a multi-bladed style was certainly stronger than a single-blade style.

If she knew that this was his reasoning, she would definitely laugh out loud. If everyone thought like him, then wouldn’t everyone be choosing dual-bladed styles, and no one would opt for the weaker single-blade style?

Of course, Long Xuan didn’t reveal his reasoning. He continued, "My mind is made up. No need to persuade me. I want this freak!"

"I think you're the freak here. Fine! Since you're determined to choose this deformed one, I won't stop you. Just take it away. I hope you won’t regret your choice later," Long Ruoxue said.

The Silver Moon Mantis was indeed an intelligent spiritual insect, fully capable of understanding human speech.

When it heard that it had been chosen, the mantis immediately displayed an expression of extreme joy and quickly ran toward Long Xuan.

For the Silver Moon Mantis, humans were the key to becoming stronger. All Silver Moon Mantises longed to be chosen by humans, especially a deformed one that nobody wanted. Its desire to be selected was even greater.

Long Xuan fondly patted its head and said with a smile, "I'll name you (Xiao yue)Little Moon. Don’t worry, I’ll train you into a great Gu insect."

As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly put the ten-armed mantis into his insect-rearing bag, as if afraid something might happen if he delayed.

Seeing this, Long Ruoxue sighed inwardly. Although he made a wrong choice, it wasn’t entirely bad. After all, no one wanted this deformed creature, and the family had already decided to dispose of it. Having it chosen now would save the family a Peak-grade spiritual insect.

She suddenly looked at Long Ziyan and smiled. "Long Xuan has made his choice. Now, it’s your turn."

"Even though they’re all peak-grade spiritual insects, their levels of insight can differ significantly, and the gap between them might be huge."

"Whether you can pick the Silver Moon Mantis with the best insight depends entirely on your judgment."

Long Ziyan nodded, her face full of interest, and she walked over with a smile toward the dozen or so peak-grade Silver Moon Mantises.

These peak-grade Silver Moon Mantises already knew someone was about to pick them, so they all eagerly gathered around, looking at Long Ziyan with hopeful eyes, wishing to be chosen.

Long Ruoxue was shocked at this moment. It was the first time she had seen Silver Moon Mantises favor someone so much.

Silver Moon Mantises were intelligent spiritual insects, aware that they could soar to new heights only if they followed the right master.

peak-grade Silver Moon Mantises were even more selective, and they were quite picky in choosing their masters.

Only the wealthiest and most talented Gu cultivators could win their favor.

Whenever someone came to pick a peak-grade Silver Moon Mantis, having a few approach them was already good. Most would turn their backs in disdain, as if following this person would lead to a dead-end.

But when Long Ziyan approached, all the peak-grade Silver Moon Mantises rushed over, their eyes full of excitement and flattery, as if following Long Ziyan would surely lead to a bright future.

They all favored Long Ziyan and hoped to be chosen by her. This was the first time Long Ruoxue had encountered such a situation, and the first time she had seen a Gu cultivator so adored by Silver Moon Mantises. When she had picked hers, she certainly didn’t receive such a warm reception.

What magic did Long Ziyan possess to make them love her to this extent? How had she captivated all the peak-grade Silver Moon Mantises?

Long Xuan couldn’t help but sigh. Was this a jackpot moment? Long Ziyan was so charming that even insects couldn’t resist her.

"Sword Bone! It’s the Sword Bone! They can sense the Sword Bone in Long Ziyan's body, which is why they think she’s the perfect master for them. Long Ziyan is going to have all the Silver Moon Mantises fighting over her!" Long Ruoxue suddenly guessed, exclaiming in surprise.

With a smile on her face, Long Ziyan looked at one Silver Moon Mantis, then another, overwhelmed by choices. She didn’t know which one to pick.

Even though there were only a dozen peak-grade Silver Moon Mantises, making the selection small, she was still paralyzed by indecision.

Finally, she patted a Silver Moon Mantis on the head and smiled, "I feel a connection with this one. I’ll choose it."

Long Ruoxue’s eyes showed a hint of discomfort. Unbelievable. The Silver Moon Mantis with the highest insight had been chosen by her in an instant. She really had a good eye.

Long Ruoxue felt a pang of regret. She had also wanted that Silver Moon Mantis King, but it had completely ignored her, disdaining her as if her "temple" was too small. In the end, she had settled for a slightly inferior one. Was she really that much worse than Long Ziyan?

"Alright, you have a good eye. The Silver Moon Mantis King has been chosen by you. Those old folks sure are generous. I thought they would hide it away, but they actually left it in the group. Now that it’s been picked, they'll be heartbroken."

"Since you both have made your choices, let's leave. I’ll take you to see other areas now."

With that, Long Ruoxue turned and headed downstairs.

The group slowly followed her.

The Silver Moon Mantis King, looking smug among its kind, waved goodbye to its peers and eagerly followed Long Ziyan down the stairs.

...

Time flew by, and it was already evening. The main residence was still lit.

The head of the family, Long Yuanshan, and Long Qian were sitting across from each other at a table, having a long conversation.

"Master, all those geniuses have been settled. Given what happened today, I've assigned three peak-grade Spirit Sea experts to guard them. There shouldn't be any issues," Long Qian said.

"However, Long Ziyan took the Silver Moon Mantis King. What were they thinking? Didn’t they hide that Silver Moon Mantis King beforehand?" Long Qian asked, puzzled.

The Silver Moon Mantis King was the king of the Silver Moon Mantis clan, far superior to a normal peak-grade Silver Moon Mantis, with a value at least ten times greater.

Unfortunately, the Silver Moon Mantis King was extremely proud and looked down on everyone. It never found a place suitable for it, and no one had been able to take it away successfully.

After all, it was a highly intelligent spirit insect. Forcing it away would likely cause loyalty issues, so it had always been left alone.

Unexpectedly, a moment of carelessness allowed an outsider genius to take it away, resulting in a huge loss. Thinking about it now made them feel the pain.

Long Yuanshan showed a hint of embarrassment but quickly restrained himself. Earlier, when Long Dan had an incident, he had rushed to the city lord's residence, forgetting about the Silver Moon Mantis King. It was only after the oversight that the King was lost.

Now, he was also deeply pained. That Silver Moon Mantis King was supposed to be reserved for Long Dan.

His face darkened with anger, and he said furiously, "It’s all because of Long Biao! If he hadn't insisted that Long Ziyan pick one as well, and even brought up the nonsense about favoritism towards males, this wouldn't have happened!"

"This whole mess is his fault! That wasteful idiot! I'll deal with him when I get the chance!"

"As you suggested, remove his name from the genius tournament. He doesn’t need to participate."

Long Yuanshan's beard quivered with rage as he pushed all the blame for his negligence onto Long Biao, which made him feel a little better.

"But luckily, Long Xuan took the least valuable Silver Moon Mantis, so at least we’ve mitigated some losses. Are you sure it was him? There can't be any mistakes," Long Yuanshan suddenly asked seriously, looking at Long Qian.

"There’s no chance of error!" Long Qian said confidently. "I spoke with Long Wanli. Although he remained tight-lipped about who invented those "Gu" recipes, from what he said, I’ve already narrowed down the target."

"Long Wanli mentioned that the wood that stands out in the forest will be blown down by the wind. He said that this person’s identity would be revealed only after he has grown stronger."

"From this, I can tell that this person is still not very advanced in cultivation and is a younger generation prodigy. The range of possibilities becomes quite small."

"Long Wanli also said that Long Xuan didn’t participate in the clan competitions because he had earned so many contribution points that he looked down on the clan's competition rewards. No normal person could have accumulated so many contribution points that even the clan’s high rewards would seem unappealing."

"Based on this statement, it’s highly likely that Long Xuan is that person. I’m almost certain of it."

"I believe there’s no mistake. That’s why I plan to have him refine our clan's Blade Gu. Not only can we earn some goodwill, but it will also keep him here for a long time."

"Refining the Blade Gu is no simple task. Even if it succeeds, the Blade Gu will still need to learn a vast amount of blade techniques, and only our clan has such an extensive collection of techniques."

"Because of the Blade Gu, our clan has the most complete collection of blade techniques in the entire Western Lands. There is no rival. If he doesn’t stay here to learn blade techniques, where else could he go?"

"He won't be able to leave for at least three years. Once he stays for that long, everything will fall into place."

A gleam of cunning flashed in Long Qian's eyes.

"If that’s the case, then it’s very likely him," Long Yuanshan nodded. "You’ve done well. This is a clever plan. The Blade Gu will keep him here for a long time."

"But does he really have the ability to modify the Dragon Blood Battle Gu recipe? I still can’t be sure. Researching Gu recipes consumes an enormous amount of resources, and if it fails, our clan will suffer greatly."

Long Qian sighed, "Who can guarantee success in such matters? Whether he can modify the Dragon Blood Battle Gu recipe is uncertain."

"But I believe that if even he can’t do it, then no one else can."

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