The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 499: Ambush from Ten Sides

At this moment, Qin Mingyue could no longer restrain herself. She squeezed Long Xuan off his seat, excitedly adjusted the seven-string zither, randomly drew out a music score for the instrument, and, unable to resist her itching hands, began to play.

Coincidentally, the score she had drawn was none other than "Heavenly Dragon’s Eight Tones."

Before long, a melodious and moving zither tune resounded throughout the room.

The music was sweet to the ear, its lingering notes echoing around the beams. Long Xuan listened, completely entranced.

There was no denying it — Qin Mingyue’s skill in playing the zither was truly exceptional. Though it was her first time touching a seven-string zither, she managed to change her previous habits, playing fluidly and flawlessly, without a single mistake.

Such innate musical talent — even Long Xuan couldn't help but feel envious.

“Such beautiful music, and such profound artistic conception!”

Di Xin slowly walked in from outside, her pupils constricting as she gazed at the seven-string zither under Qin Mingyue's hands.

“Are you stirring things up again?”

Di Xin’s gaze was extremely solemn as she looked at Long Xuan.

She spoke through a soul transmission, afraid to disturb the exquisite melody.

At this moment, she was truly shocked. This brat Long Xuan had once again pioneered a new path — the Way of the Seven-String Zither — and had now become its founding ancestor.

She understood far too well: once the musical system of this world gained two additional tones, it would bring about earth-shattering changes. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

First, all sound-type Gu insects would undergo a collective strengthening. Second, all Gu cultivators walking the Path of Sound would enter a new era. This world’s Sound Path was about to face a grand revolution, and all Sound Path Gu Cultivator would become beneficiaries.

And the one to cause all this was just this unrestrained young rascal before her — who, with nothing but his own power, had once again enhanced an entire profession. And this wasn’t even the first time he’d done it.

“I needed a zither master to assist in playing, in order to refine a sound-type Gu insect,”

Long Xuan explained casually,

“So I passed these seven classic music pieces to her. Consider it her lucky day.”

“There’s no doubt that Gu refined using seven-string zither scores will definitely be stronger than those from five-string scores.”

“Interested in refining a sound-type Gu yourself?” Long Xuan asked idly.

“It’s not that easy,” Di Xin replied flatly.

“To refine a Seven-Tone Gu, you need corresponding music. While you’ve created the seven-tone scale, it takes time for a large volume of seven-tone music to be composed and spread in this world.”

“By the time this world is filled with seven-tone music, who knows what level I’ll have reached.”

“When the new Sound Path reaches its peak, then maybe I’ll consider refining that kind of Gu.”

She didn’t seem particularly interested.

Upon hearing this, a faint smile tugged at Long Xuan’s lips.

Seven-tone music? He possessed the wealth of an entire world — pieces like this were countless in his mind.

The seven pieces he gave out didn’t even count as a drop in the ocean. As for the New Sound Path System, he certainly lacked no music at all.

A musical piece is fleeting — before long, "Heavenly Dragon’s Eight Tones" came to an end. As the final note faded, its lingering resonance filled the room, and everyone was left enchanted.

Long Xuan only had one evaluation in mind:

“This melody belongs in the heavens — how rarely can one hear it in the mortal world?”

Qin Mingyue gently stroked the strings, her eyes tightly closed, still lost in the transcendent soundscape, unable to break free.

“That was beautiful! Encore!”

Long Xuan clapped enthusiastically, his thunderous applause abruptly breaking the mood Qin Mingyue had carefully cultivated.

She opened her eyes and gave the guy a fierce glare.

“The playing technique of the seven-string zither feels quite unfamiliar to me, so this performance was full of flaws.”

“I’ll need some time to practice before I can play all seven pieces to perfection.”

“All seven songs are war-themed — perfect for refining Curse Mark Gu.”

“When the time comes, I’ll play personally to assist you in refining it.”

“A Curse Mark Gu with seven different curse marks — just how powerful will that be? I’m really looking forward to it!”

Qin Mingyue’s eyes sparkled. She was clearly eager to see how powerful a Gu refined from the New Sound Path could become.

“Then I’ll be counting on you!” Long Xuan smiled.

Time flowed by like water — in the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

In his room, Long Xuan wrote three bold characters on the paper: "By Long Xuan". He then set down the brush and stretched with a long yawn.

After a month of effort, he had finally succeeded in researching the Seven-Tone Version of the Curse Mark Gu.

A month might not seem long, but in terms of time spent inside the Soul Library, who knew how long he had been at it?

Fortunately, hard work paid off. After enduring a lonely grind, the new version of the Curse Mark Gu recipe had finally been completed.

Now that the Gu recipe was finalized and the materials had all been gathered, he could officially begin refining the Curse Mark Gu.

Long Xuan clenched his fists in excitement. Just imagining the new version of the Curse Mark Gu, capable of directly elevating his cultivation by half a realm without any side effects, made his heart itch with anticipation. He couldn’t wait to refine it immediately.

"After a month of practice, with Qin Mingyue’s talent, she should have already mastered those seven zither pieces to the point of perfection, right?"

Long Xuan murmured softly, then immediately pushed open the door and walked out with a smile.

Lately, Qin Mingyue had become obsessed with the Seven-String Zither, practicing tirelessly every day. She seemed addicted to playing it. These past few days, the melodious sound of the zither had never once ceased on the island.

Even now, the island still echoed with the lingering zither melody. Following the sound, Long Xuan quickly found Qin Mingyue.

When he saw her sitting on a stone, playing the zither, Long Xuan was inwardly startled.

The Zither Gu in her hands had clearly been a five-string one. But at some point, it had already evolved into a seven-string zither.

Playing with a Zither Gu and playing with an ordinary instrument were two entirely different concepts. The Zither Gu, when played, could invoke all sorts of incredible phenomena in response to the music. At this moment, Qin Mingyue was using her Zither Gu to perform, and supernatural visions were manifesting all around her.

She was currently playing the piece "Ambush from Ten Sides", and accordingly, the vision that formed was a vivid battlefield scene — thousands upon thousands of troops, an atmosphere of killing intent thick enough to choke, a tension so real it felt like being in the middle of an ambush from ten sides.

In Long Xuan’s eyes, the area surrounding Qin Mingyue was filled with swirling dust and flying sand. Amid the haze stood black-armored soldiers, all armed — archers, shield bearers, blade-wielders, and waves of cavalry in black armor, thundering toward him like a tide. Under the pounding of the warhorses’ hooves, the ground trembled violently.

Everywhere was the clash of metal and horses — a sea of black armor surrounded him layer after layer. The ambush formation was airtight and impenetrable, creating an overwhelming sense of despair.

Witnessing such a terrifying vision, Long Xuan was utterly shocked. The Zither Gu could actually manifest the images painted by the music in reality.

He could now clearly sense that the battlefield conjured by the Zither Gu was completely real. It was no illusion. If someone were to be struck by the weapons of those countless troops, they would absolutely die for real.

“So this is the fearsome power of the Zither Gu?” Long Xuan's eyes revealed profound shock.

He still remembered Qin Mingyue once told him: every distinct piece of music allows the Zither Gu to awaken a powerful new ability.

Clearly, this battlefield of a million troops was the manifestation that appeared after the Zither Gu ‘heard’ "Ambush from Ten Sides".

He had introduced Seven-String Zither music to this world, and the very first to benefit was this Zither Gu — Qin Mingyue had become its biggest beneficiary.

Suddenly, the music reached its climax — the tempo surged, tension skyrocketed.

In that instant, Long Xuan suddenly felt the army begin to charge. A rain of arrows, countless swords and spears, iron-hoofed warhorses, and cold war chariots — all surged at him like a tsunami.

The ground shook violently. Cold sweat broke out on Long Xuan’s forehead. For the first time, he felt the imminent danger of death — it was as if the scent of death had already touched him.

It truly felt like if the army reached him, they would tear him into pieces without effort.

Just at that critical moment — right as the iron hooves of the warhorses were about to trample him —

The zither music suddenly ceased.

With its disappearance, the vision of the vast army vanished into wisps of black smoke, dissipating as if it had never existed.

The sky turned clear once more. No wind, no clouds. A tranquil calmness blanketed everything — as if that terrifying scene just now had never happened.

Long Xuan let out a long sigh, slowly regaining his composure. In a startled voice, he said,

"What a terrifying vision… what a masterpiece — 'Ambush from Ten Sides'!"

"With this piece alone, you can summon an army of ten thousand. Once mobilized, it holds power enough to slaughter a city and destroy a nation! This technique is absolutely worthy of being your trump card."

“So this is the terrifying might of the Zither Gu? Its reputation is well-deserved — no wonder it's spoken of in the same breath as the powerful Go Gu.”

Qin Mingyue revealed a faint smile. Her face slightly flushed as she said modestly,

“It’s not that my Zither Gu is that strong — it’s the music that is powerful. There are countless zither pieces in the world. Do you truly believe all of them could bestow such terrifying abilities to a Zither Gu?”

“It’s because this composition is such a timeless classic that it allowed the Zither Gu to awaken such a powerful new ability.”

“There are very few zither compositions that can empower a Zither Gu in this way — in fact, you could say there are none. Among all known five-string zither pieces, none can match this one.”

“The only compositions that might surpass it... are the pieces written for Seven-String Zithers!”

“The emergence of Seven-String Zither compositions has undoubtedly raised the upper limit of what the Zither Gu can achieve,” Qin Mingyue said excitedly.