The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 464: The Limitations of Book Gu

Upon hearing this, Long Xuan’s eyes glowed with increasing interest. He eagerly asked,

“So what does a Book Gu consume? What does it need to undergo evolution? Don’t tell me it needs to keep reading different novels?”

Zhu Jiuge shook her head and patiently explained,

“The Book Gu feeds on spiritual consumption. Its growth and evolution methods are very unique—it requires many people to read your novel.”

“For example, let’s say you wrote a novel called Legend of the Gu God. Just having the Book Gu read it once isn’t enough. To continue increasing the power of the Book Gu, Legend of the Gu God must be spread far and wide, allowing more people to read it.”

“The readers generate spiritual consumption, which is what the Book Gu—refined from the novel—devours to grow.”

“The more readers it has, the stronger the Book Gu becomes. Once a certain number of readers is reached, the Book Gu will undergo a evolution.”

“The more times it evolves, the more readers are required.”

“If the novel isn't exciting enough and the number of readers remains limited, the Book Gu will never be able to undergo evolution again for the rest of its existence.”

Hearing this, Long Xuan seemed deep in thought.

From Zhu Jiuge’s words, he picked up on a critical detail—to refine a Book Gu, one must use an original work. It cannot be a book that already exists in this world.

The reason was simple: books that already exist had already been read by many, and the spiritual consumption generated had already been absorbed by the original author’s Book Gu. If one used a pirated or existing book to refine a Book Gu, it would be impossible to steal even a bit of that spiritual consumption. Evolution would be forever out of reach.

Though this setting for the Book Gu was interesting and had theoretically high potential, its actual strength might be limited in reality.

This was a high-martial world, where everyone focused on cultivation. How many people would "waste time" reading novels?

Novels were like barren deserts in this world. No matter how brilliant your story, it would be hard to attract the attention of the entire world—even reaching one ten-thousandth of the population would be a miracle.

Otherwise, if all of humanity read your novel… Long Xuan didn’t even dare to imagine how powerful such a Book Gu could become.

“Then, what about non-fiction books?” Long Xuan suddenly thought of something and asked again with renewed interest.

He was wondering—what would happen if the Book Gu read his physics textbooks from his previous life? Would it comprehend universal gravitation?

What if it read the Tao Te Ching from his past life? Might it gain insight into something even he couldn’t understand?

He had so many books from his past life that had never existed in this world. If he transcribed them here, he could surely create many interesting Gu insects.

Since a Book Gu can only grow stronger by reading original books, and it’s very difficult for natives of this world to write such books, his mind—full of knowledge from a past world—was an invaluable treasure trove.

It would be a waste not to take advantage of this Book Gu mechanism.

Zhu Jiuge stopped writing, turned to look at him, and said,

“Book Gu come in many types, each with different preferences.”

“Mine only likes reading novels. If you have original poetry, songs, or essays, you’ll have to find a Book Gu with matching tastes.”

“But after countless tests, we've found that novels—because of their sheer word count—are the most efficient. A Book Gu that loves novels is the most powerful type.”

Upon hearing this, Long Xuan’s eyes grew even brighter. He had countless poems and literary classics stored in his mind—all of them masterpieces.

“By the way, why did you come looking for me? Don’t tell me you’re here to freeload again?”

Zhu Jiuge suddenly narrowed her eyes and gave Long Xuan a suspicious look.

Hearing this, Long Xuan looked slightly embarrassed and gave a stiff smile,

“Come on, how could you say that? You’ve got me all wrong.”

“I accidentally created a rather interesting Gu insect and wanted your opinion. Also… I was thinking maybe we could open a shop together…”

Meanwhile, at the center of the Four Great Branches, inside a grand hall—

An elderly man with white hair was pacing anxiously, hands behind his back.

Beside him, an old woman leaning on a cane looked deeply worried. She sighed,

“Headmaster, as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth continues to decline, the seal restraining that creature is weakening.”

“Just moments ago, that monster broke through nine layers of the seal in a single instant. The sealing within the Nine-Layer Demon Suppression Pagoda is no longer stable. Disaster could strike at any moment…”

The Headmaster’s face turned pale. This was the man who, with a single stomp, could shake the entire Central Land—yet his eyes were filled with fear, and his fingers trembled uncontrollably.

“Damn it! What the hell is that thing?! It’s been absorbing spiritual energy for tens of thousands of years, and the academy’s students still haven’t drained it?! Is this some kind of joke?!”

“I really want to know how such an absurd being was sealed by human cultivators in the first place! It’s beyond belief!”

“If that thing escapes… forget about Holy Gu City being destroyed—it would spell annihilation for the entire human race!”

“If it holds a grudge, it could very well exterminate us all!”

The Headmaster roared in fury, completely losing the calm and authoritative demeanor he was once known for.

“Sigh…” the old woman sighed again, gravely saying,

“According to ancient records, that creature is called ‘Yuan’. Back then, the human cultivators paid a tremendous price to barely seal it away.”

“Even then, they couldn’t kill it. All they could do was lock it in one place and use countless people over endless years to slowly drain its spiritual energy—until it was finally exhausted.”

“That’s the very reason Holy Gu Academy was established. Its true purpose is to use endless generations to kill Yuan.”

“But no one expected that after all this time, Yuan’s power remains vast and boundless. Even those ancient cultivators couldn’t have foreseen this…”

The Headmaster’s expression grew heavy as he said solemnly,

“This kind of existence… there’s no way we can stand against it.”

“If it breaks free, we are all doomed. There will be no luck, no escape. The only chance we have is to prevent its release. Tonight, I will leave the Academy and try to find the most powerful Formation Master in the world to reinforce the seal.”

His eyes narrowed as he looked at the old woman and said seriously,

“During this time, do not allow Zhu Jiuge to leave the Academy. With her here, Holy Gu City has a better chance of surviving.”

“Whether the formation strengthening succeeds or not—and whether we can stop Yuan—depends on how powerful her Doom Gu really is.”

His tone was not optimistic—clearly, even he was uncertain whether Zhu Jiuge’s fate-altering Gu could save them.

The old woman looked pained, frowning,

“We’ve long known Zhu Jiuge carries the Doon Gu. The reason we recruited her despite the risk was precisely to use it for this crisis.”

“But doing so is far too cruel to Qi Luoyou. As Zhu Jiuge’s master, he might die from the Gu’s backlash.”

“He’s played it safe all his life, only to meet his end like this… sigh, we owe him too much.”

The Headmaster’s face twisted in sorrow. He sighed,

“Qi Luoyou has trained countless Gu King disciples. His knowledge is extraordinary. Do you really think he didn’t know about the Doom Gu in her body?”

“Don’t be naive. He knew. He was just cooperating with our act.”

“He may be cautious, even afraid of death—but he loves Holy Gu Academy more. He’s prepared to give his life to give the Academy a sliver of hope.”

“And he’s not the only one. Many others will have their fortune drained by that Gu.”

“In all of this, the one who suffers most… is Zhu Jiuge herself.”