The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 486: Long Xuan the Crafty Monkey

As soon as he finished speaking, Long Xuan looked down at the group of Gu Kings below with a smile in his eyes. He simply didn’t believe this crowd wouldn’t take the bait.

This was an open scheme — and who wouldn't be intrigued by a mysterious ancient tomb? After all, this wasn’t his past life; in this world, tombs could be looted freely.

As Long Xuan's words fell, the group below indeed began to murmur and discuss. When it came to the news of an ancient tomb, everyone showed clear interest. some even had fiery, greedy glints in their eyes.

This method of trade was quite novel. No one had ever tried auctioning off the location of a hidden ancient tomb before.

The treasures within such tombs were unknown. there could be heaven-defying treasures, or it could be a barren tomb with nothing but death. Many had perished exploring such tombs, and the losses often far outweighed the gains.

To them, it was like opening a blind box. If they won the gamble, they could become rich overnight; if they lost, the cost could be devastating. And many Gu Kings who loved adventure just happened to enjoy this very sort of gamble.

After a brief discussion among the crowd, Qian Changjiang was the first to speak:

“Hehe, this is my first time seeing someone auction off the location of an ancient tomb at a trade fair. Truly interesting.”

“In the past, no one dared sell the location of certain treasures because there was no way to verify their authenticity — you couldn’t exactly check it yourself.”

“But today, with me present, my Integrity Gu can completely confirm the truth of this information. I will vouch for this young man, what he just said is absolutely true.”

As soon as Qian Changjiang finished speaking, everyone’s eyes turned to the Integrity Gu on his shoulder. Seeing that its eyes didn’t glow, no one had any further doubts about the tomb’s authenticity.

Since Long Xuan didn’t set a starting price and merely said “highest bidder wins,” many of the Gu Kings saw a potential opportunity to get a bargain. As a result, most of them used soul-transmission to secretly send him their bids.

Instantly, Long Xuan’s mind was flooded with the voices of hundreds of people, nearly causing his head to explode.

Fortunately, he had numerous Clone Souls, so he could converse with many people at once without strain, easily managing all the incoming messages.

“Young friend! I am willing to offer thirty King-Breaking Pills. How about selling the tomb location to me?”

The soul-transmitting voice came from an old man, whom Long Xuan recognized — he was the patriarch of the Jiang Clan, one of the Eight Great Clans of Xuanyuan City.

As one of the top noble clans of a super empire’s imperial capital, the Jiang Clan’s strength was immense.

The patriarch was making a bold move, offering thirty King-Breaking Pills outright for the tomb location — which even shocked Long Xuan.

He knew well that while King-Breaking Pills weren’t worth much to him, they were priceless in the outside world. Thirty of them was no small sum; the Jiang Patriarch’s offer was certainly not low.

Feigning hesitation, Long Xuan paused for a moment and finally nodded:

“Alright, thirty King-Breaking Pills it is.”

“But if I trade with you openly, everyone will know that you obtained the tomb’s location. When that happens, all the other clans will be watching you closely.”

“The moment you start excavating the tomb, its location will be exposed. Everyone will come to take a share of the loot. In that case, your thirty pills will have been given away for nothing.”

“You’d best pretend the transaction failed, and we can trade secretly outside later. That way, no one will suspect the Jiang Clan obtained the location.” Long Xuan kindly suggested.

Upon hearing this, the Jiang Patriarch suddenly understood. With a soul transmission and a smile, he said:

“You are very thoughtful. That’s right — I paid with real treasure, and I won’t let others benefit from it. Let’s do as you suggest.”

As he finished, the Jiang Patriarch sighed loudly in front of everyone, putting on an act of disappointment, as if the deal had fallen through.

At the same time, Long Xuan began negotiations with another of Xuanyuan City’s Eight Great Clans — the Han Clan.

“Young friend, my Han Clan is willing to offer five peak-grade Variant Gu. Could this be the highest bid?”

“It’s not that I’m stingy — the truth is, the tomb’s contents are unknown. It could be rich or completely empty.”

“It’s also likely extremely dangerous. My clan could suffer major losses for nothing.”

“These five peak-grade Variant Gu are already the highest we can offer.” The Han Patriarch spoke nervously through soul-transmission, clearly very interested in the tomb and willing to gamble a high price for a chance at fortune.

Upon hearing this, Long Xuan was shocked. Good heavens — someone actually offered five peak-grade Variant Gu for the tomb’s location. That was quite a bold offer.

Even though all his Gu were self-created and he didn’t care for external Gu, peak-grade Variant Gu were extremely valuable. Even if he didn’t use them, they could be sold for sky-high prices anywhere.

Putting on a conflicted expression, Long Xuan paused, then finally said:

“To be honest, your five peak-grade Variant Gu aren't the highest value offer, but I do happen to be short on them…”

“I’ll take the deal. But again, I recommend we don’t trade openly — otherwise, everyone will know you’ve got the tomb’s location, and they’ll be sure to follow you.”

“If your Han Clan gets exposed during excavation, you’ll just be giving others a free ride, and the five peak-grade Gu will be wasted.”

“You should act disappointed later and say the deal fell through. Let’s meet outside and complete the trade secretly.” Long Xuan helpfully advised.

"Good idea. Our Han Clan spent a fortune acquiring this intelligence—how could we let others freeload? Let’s do it your way."

The Han Clan's Patriarch’s eyes briefly lit up, but he quickly feigned disappointment, letting out a heavy sigh as he sat back in his seat.

At the same time, Long Xuan’s various soul clones had already completed transactions with the patriarchs of the other eight great clans, using the exact same words. Now, each of those clan heads was also sighing heavily, wearing expressions of deep disappointment.

Long Xuan chuckled inwardly. He had never said he would only sell to one person; it was they who misunderstood. What a fine field of leeks waiting to be harvested.

Just now, when he had deliberately suggested conducting the transaction in private, it wasn’t out of consideration for them. If he had made a deal publicly with one of them, the others would never have taken the bait.

Although this method was somewhat shameless and would likely enrage many, his face was a disguise. Once he left, who would recognize him? He wasn’t afraid of offending too many people here.

Of course, Long Xuan hadn’t tried to strip everyone of their wealth. He only tricked a few of the richest factions. As for the majority, he rejected them outright.

Those poor fools offered prices that were far too low. If they had really won the bid, they probably wouldn't have believed it themselves. It would have exposed the lie.

At this moment, everyone’s gaze focused on the patriarchs of the eight great clans of Xuanyuan City, secretly guessing which one had obtained the location of the ancient tomb.

Tombs of powerful cultivators are always deeply buried with grand funerary rites. Excavating them requires massive manpower and resources. Foreigners face many restrictions digging in the Xuanyuan Empire. Only the empire’s strongest forces would be willing to spend heavily for such an ancient tomb’s location.

Thus, all speculated that one of these eight patriarchs had most likely won the bid.

However, upon seeing that each patriarch wore an expression of extreme disappointment and shook their heads in frustration, everyone was baffled. Could it not be them? If not them—then who?

Unconsciously, the crowd turned their eyes to Qian Changjiang. The answer was obvious.

Who had the most money here? Without question, it was this wealthy treasure merchant. Furthermore, his expression hadn’t changed in the slightest—it must have been him who bought the tomb location.

If Qian Changjiang could hear their thoughts at this moment, he would’ve screamed injustice.

He had absolutely no interest in the tomb and didn’t even participate in the bidding via Soul Transmission.

As a treasure merchant, he only needed to keep trading to safely amass endless treasures. Why risk his life in an ancient tomb?

The dangers within such tombs were unknown. No matter how many treasures were inside, he wasn’t willing to gamble his life. The wealthier someone is, the more they value their life.

Long Xuan had merely traded a single piece of intelligence about the tomb and then stepped down from the stage. As he did, an old woman took his place, setting a variety of bottles and jars onto the table…

Long Xuan returned to his seat. Di Xin immediately sent a Soul Transmission:

“Who exactly did you sell the ancient tomb’s information to? Why do they all look so disappointed?”

“Heh heh! The patriarchs of the eight great clans of Xuanyuan City, and a few rich individuals, all know the hidden location of the tomb now,” Long Xuan said with a sinister grin.

Di Xin’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“You’re really something else!”

The trade fair ended in a flash. After using his many soul clones to swiftly complete trades with those unfortunate suckers, Long Xuan immediately reverted to his true appearance and checked into an inn with Di Xin.

Di Xin stayed in a private room to recover from her injuries, while Long Xuan retreated into the space within the Heaven-Devouring World Toad to study the Three-Yuan Heavy Water he had just obtained from the trading event.

After a long period of research, he finally decided not to touch the Three-Yuan Heavy Water for now. Based on his estimation, at his current cultivation level, his success rate in refining it was virtually zero.

One-Yuan Heavy Water was already much weaker than Two-Yuan Heavy Water, and Two-Yuan was far inferior to Three-Yuan Heavy Water.

Even a powerful cultivator like Shui Wuqing had to endure occasional backlash when refining Two-Yuan Heavy Water. The difficulty of refining Three-Yuan was unimaginable.

He hadn’t forgotten that Qian Changjiang had taken the Three-Yuan Heavy Water from his storage ring—not his body.

In other words, the Three-Yuan Heavy Water was an unclaimed treasure. It had never been refined.

Even Qian Changjiang, one of the Top Ten Experts of the Gu Realm, had not dared to refine the Three-Yuan Heavy Water. How could someone like him, a mere Spiritual Sea Stage Gu Cultivator, dare to covet it?

He could only seal it within the belly of the Heaven-Devouring World Toad and wait until he was strong enough to attempt refining it. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The appearance of this heaven-defying treasure, the Three-Yuan Heavy Water, released an immense Treasure Aura. After absorbing it, the Heaven-Devouring World Toad’s internal space and size expanded significantly. A faint smile appeared on Long Xuan’s face.