The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 497: Creation of a Sound-Type Gu Insect

After putting away the pill recipe, Long Xuan stretched lazily, then finally pushed open the door and walked out of the small villa.

Outside, Di Xin was setting up a pile of formation materials on the ground. She seemed completely absorbed in studying formation arrays, so much so that she didn’t even notice Long Xuan coming out.

Meanwhile, after a month’s time, Qin Mingyue seemed to have accepted her fate. She finally emerged from her despair and was now seated in a small pavilion, playing the zither. The music was melodious and pleasant to the ear.

In this world, music belonged to the Great Dao, its potential ceiling was extremely high. However, its following was not. Gu Masters who cultivated in the Path of Sound were incredibly rare.

Therefore, even though Long Xuan had been in this world for quite some time, this was his first time hearing music in this world. He was immediately intrigued, and he followed the sound slowly toward its source.

As he approached Qin Mingyue and looked at the zither beneath her hands, Long Xuan was stirred.

This was his first contact with music in this world. Only now did he realize that the zither here resembled the ancient instruments of his previous life. It had only five strings, a Five-String Zither, with notes corresponding to Gong (Do), Shang (Re), Jue (Mi), Zhi (So), Yu (La).

In his previous world, such five-string zithers had long been replaced by seven-string instruments.

A full musical scale should be do, re, mi, fa, so, la, si — seven notes.

But this world’s musical path was incomplete — it lacked two whole notes.

This meant the development of music here had strayed far from the orthodox path — thoroughly deviated.

Yet this incomplete, backward musical system still allowed the Path of Sound to ascend to the level of a Great Dao? Long Xuan was utterly shocked.

Gu insects created from just the five-tone system were already this powerful and had even become part of the Great Dao. Then what about Gu insects created from the full seven-tone system? How powerful could they become?

Long Xuan's heart began to itch with excitement, his gaze igniting with fervent ambition.

He had a hunch that the seven-tone Gu insects he created would far surpass the five-tone Gu insects of this world.

Once the Seven-Note Sound Path emerged, all Gu Cultivators who cultivated the Path of Sound would receive an epic-level power-up.

He might once again be founding a new Gu insect school— yet again becoming the ancestor of a new Gu lineage, recorded for eternity in the annals of history.

Long Xuan’s breathing grew rapid. Creating a new branch of Gu was a monumental event — an act that would bring immense merit and fame. If he wanted to realize this ambition, he absolutely had to refine a sound-type Gu insect.

At this moment, he had already made up his mind — the next Gu insect he would refine would be of the Sound Path.

He wanted to see for himself how his self-created seven-note Gu would measure up against this world’s five-note Gu.

With ambition burning in his eyes, Long Xuan clenched his fists tightly.

At this time, the musical piece ended. Looking at the five-string zither under Qin Mingyue’s hands, Long Xuan suddenly realized — this was no ordinary instrument.

This zither… was actually a Gu insect shaped like a zither.

Long Xuan was slightly surprised. He sighed inwardly: “Truly, the world is vast and full of wonders. Any bizarre Gu insect one can imagine, this world already has it.”

Since he had already decided to refine a sound-type Gu, his interest in this peculiar zither-shaped Gu intensified. He immediately asked:

“To think that’s a Gu insect resembling a zither. How fascinating. This kind of Gu must be powerful, right? I’m quite curious about it. Could you tell me more about its abilities?”

Qin Mingyue looked up at Long Xuan. Seeing the excitement in his eyes, she furrowed her brows slightly, but still patiently explained:

“This is the Zither Gu. Many are already familiar with its abilities, so there's no need for secrecy.”

“To raise a Zither Gu, one must collect music from across the world. The more types of music it hears, the stronger it becomes.”

“Every Gu Cultivator who possesses a Zither Gu travels the world, seeking new melodies, dedicating themselves to the mission of gathering all the world’s music.”

“As for the Zither Gu’s abilities, it uses sound to disturb the opponent’s mind. Different melodies yield different effects.”

“Some melodies are so profound that they can stir up inner demons in the opponent, amplifying them until the person goes mad during battle.”

“It can even do this—” Qin Mingyue suddenly plucked a string.

With a sharp “Zheng!”, a crescent-shaped sonic blade shot out, striking a large boulder in the distance.

With a heavy thud, the boulder was cleaved in two. The upper half slid slowly to the ground.

The cut was smooth as if carved by an incredibly sharp divine blade, a clear demonstration of how lethal the Sound Blade was.

Seeing this, Long Xuan's pupils shrank. He was deeply shocked — he now fully realized the power of the Zither Gu.

Its terrifying strength could easily qualify it as one of the most powerful Gu insects in the Gu world.

Now he was wondering: if this Zither Gu had seven strings, what would it be capable of?

Long Xuan’s eyes flickered. He was now seriously contemplating whether or not he should refine a Seven-String Zither Gu.

There was no doubt about the Zither Gu’s immense power. There were few Gu in this world that could surpass it.

The Four Great Cultural Gu of the Holy Gu Academy — Zither, Go, Calligraphy, and Painting — were considered the strongest, and the Zither Gu was every bit on par with the other three.

Qin Mingyue had earned her title as a genius and ranked in the Top 5 of the Western Region Genius Tournament precisely because of her possession of the Zither Gu.

But despite its strength, Long Xuan wasn’t fond of its combat style.

What suited oneself was best — and Long Xuan didn’t want to play the zither every time he fought. It was too much hassle.

He preferred quick, clean kills. Artistic killing through music, while elegant, was ultimately a bit slow. And slowness introduced risk.

After only a moment of consideration, Long Xuan abandoned the idea of refining a Zither Gu. He then asked:

“To be honest, I’m very interested in sound-type Gu insects. I want to refine a Sound-Type Gu myself.”

"I don't particularly enjoy playing the zither during combat. Do you have any other sound-path Gu insects that are no weaker than your Zither Gu?"

Qin Mingyue was slightly stunned but ultimately did not refuse. She slowly replied,

"Among the sound-path Gu that can rival Zither Gu, I possess only one — the Curse Mark Gu."

"In ancient times, priests could greatly enhance a legion's combat strength through singing. A powerful song could triple the fighting ability of an entire corps, allowing them to sweep through enemy ranks like a hot knife through butter."

"At that time, singing a song was more powerful than commanding thousands of troops. It was the golden age of the sound-path."

"However, such a powerful ability had its drawbacks. The singing could be drowned out by louder noises."

"And singing was not an instantaneous ability. It required time to perform, and the enemy might not give you the chance to sing."

"Due to these severe limitations, certain exceptionally talented ancients devised a method to solve both problems: they sealed music within various curse marks."

"These Curse Marks could be activated instantly. They made no sound when triggered, nor could they be interfered with by external noises."

"As long as a soldier had a Curse Mark implanted within them, they could explosively increase their combat strength at any moment. It was extremely convenient to use."

"However, this brought about a new problem — high cost. Not everyone could withstand the power of a Curse Mark."

"Implanting one had a very high mortality rate, making it impossible to use them on a large scale within armies."

"The Curse Mark Gu was born from this power. You can tell just by looking at it."

Qin Mingyue smiled faintly. As the power of the Curse Mark activated, black tadpole-like patterns began to spread across her face.

At the same time, her aura began to rise sharply. Under Long Xuan’s astonished gaze, Qin Mingyue actually broke through a whole realm in an instant.

It must be known, she was already at the peak of the Spiritual Sea realm. Advancing another stage would make her nearly a half-step Gu King.

This was clearly a realm that surpassed the Spiritual Sea peak — powerful enough to dominate all within the same realm.

At this moment, Long Xuan finally understood why this woman was the number one prodigy of the Holy Gu Academy, and why she could easily secure a top-three placement in the Western Region Genius Tournament.

With power like this, who among her peers could possibly be her match?

Qin Mingyue pointed to the black tadpoles on her face and said,

"Do you see this? This is a Curse Mark."

"However, mine are living marks, far more powerful. They’re called Curse Mark Gu."

"There are five black tadpoles on my face, named: Gong Gu, Shang Gu, Jiao Gu, Zhi Gu, and Yu Gu."

"They correspond to the five tones of music: Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zhi, and Yu."

She then wore a proud expression and smiled:

"Implanting a Curse Mark is far too dangerous. Most geniuses can only handle one."

"Very few can implant two types at once."

"Yet I, your genius before you, have successfully implanted all five: Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zhi, and Yu."

"A talent like mine is unique in this age, and rare even throughout history."

"Of course, regardless of how many Curse Mark Gu you implant, the blood contract will still count them as a single Gu insect. Are you interested in such a powerful Gu?"

Qin Mingyue looked at Long Xuan with a smile.

As expected, the moment Long Xuan heard about this kind of Gu, his heart was stirred.

To think that gathering five kinds of Curse Mark Gu could allow someone to instantly break through a whole realm — this was not a trivial matter. Realm suppression meant invincibility within one's stage.

Indeed, this world had countless forbidden arts and forbidden pills that could temporarily increase one’s cultivation, but all without exception came with severe, often irreversible — side effects.

Otherwise, everyone would use them. Cross-realm battles would be far too easy.

But the terrifying thing about Curse Mark Gu was its immediate usability, instant activation, and complete lack of side effects.

This meant that if you were at the early Gu King stage, you’d instantly be equivalent to a mid-stage Gu King.

If you were at late-stage Gu King, you’d be equal to a peak Gu King.

If you were already at the peak of Gu King, you could surpass that realm and become unmatched in the world.

What kind of terrifying power was this? How could Long Xuan not be tempted?

Even more crucial was that the five musical tones — Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zhi, and Yu — were incomplete in this world. They had never truly unleashed the full power of the Curse Mark Gu.

If he could complete the musical scale in this world and bring in the seven-note system, then he could create seven types of Curse Mark Gu — two more than Qin Mingyue.

If five types allowed Qin Mingyue to directly increase one whole realm, then seven types? At the very least, he could increase one and a half realms!

Long Xuan's breathing grew rapid. His fists clenched in excitement.