The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 502: The Tu Clan

Staring at the now-ruined Xuanyuan City, Long Xuan was filled with emotion.

He did not leave immediately. Instead, he activated his golden finger ability to scan the ruins, attempting to locate any hidden treasures buried beneath the rubble.

After all, Xuanyuan City was once one of the wealthiest cities in the Central Region. Numerous powerful clans resided within it, and no one could guess how many rare items they had amassed.

Although it had turned to rubble, there were bound to be missed treasures. He didn’t believe that not a single valuable item could be found here.

Clearly, he wasn't the only one with this thought. Many Gu cultivators were also rummaging through the ruins, hoping to discover buried treasures. Some of them were even at the Gu King level.

However, Xuanyuan City had already fallen long ago and had been searched countless times. Most of the treasures had probably been plundered already. Those still searching now had likely come too late and wouldn’t be able to reap much.

Most people had been digging through the debris for quite some time without unearthing anything valuable and were sighing in frustration.

Still, despite the city being searched three feet underground, there were always places people missed. Long Xuan’s golden finger, which could reveal the progress of all things, made finding buried treasure far easier.

Before long, he dug a large hole that led to a hidden secret chamber, one that no one had yet discovered. The chamber contained a considerable amount of wealth—a nice haul for him.

However, as soon as he uncovered the chamber, many nearby Gu cultivators turned and stared—eyes gleaming.

Not far away, an elder who exuded the aura of an early-stage Gu King had a look of envy on his face, clearly displeased.

This elder had been searching the ruins for seven days, turning over nearly every stone, yet hadn’t found a single treasure. Just as his frustration peaked, this young man arrived and immediately found a hidden chamber. The contrast made his heart burn with injustice.

“Elder Yang, can you tell what treasures are hidden in that chamber?” asked another white-haired old man beside him, his gaze filled with greed.

“You’re asking me? Who should I ask then?” Elder Yang grumbled. “My eyes can’t see through stone, but anything could be in the Xuanyuan Imperial City's secret vaults.”

“It wouldn't be surprising if the chamber held items worth billions. If it were worthless junk, why would it be sealed away in a secret room?”

In this kind of situation, people naturally assumed the best. Elder Yang instinctively believed there must be some heaven-defying treasure inside, and the greed in his eyes grew stronger.

“What now? Does Elder Zheng desire the treasure in the chamber? Planning to kill and take?” Elder Yang asked with a sly smile, testing the waters.

Elder Zheng didn’t hide his intent. He said coldly, “That depends on what’s inside. If it’s just trash, there’s no need to take the risk.”

“But if there really is some heaven-defying treasure… so what if we fight for it? In the world of cultivation, treasure belongs to the strong.”

Elder Yang chuckled. “Why wait to know what’s inside? Your courage is too small.”

“I can see that this young man’s aura is unstable—clearly he’s only just broken through to the Gu King level.”

“He probably hasn’t had the chance to upgrade his Gu insect. His combat strength is likely not much better than a Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivator.”

“Either of us could easily kill him, let alone if we team up two-on-one.”

“If we’re guaranteed to win, just kill him. No need to worry about what he found. Whatever it is, it will be ours. Even if it’s all junk—meat is meat, even from a mosquito.”

Elder Zheng was swayed. Narrowing his eyes, he said coldly, “You’re right. This deal is risk-free and high-return. Let’s pay this boy a visit. Meeting us is really his misfortune.”

With a sinister expression, he began walking toward the secret chamber.

At that moment, Long Xuan had just finished collecting everything from the chamber and was climbing out of the hole when he saw the two old men approaching with grins. His brows furrowed slightly.

The two clearly had the look of wandering cultivators. Seeing him alone, they were likely up to no good.

And indeed, Long Xuan was currently traveling solo. When he had used the Realm-Breaking Gu to open a passage to the Gu Realm, he and his companions had parted ways.

Qin Mingyue had left in anger. Di Xin had urgent matters, possibly emboldened by a recent power surge, and went off to plunder some powerful clan’s treasure trove—leaving Long Xuan behind.

So now, Long Xuan was alone and vulnerable—a perfect target for murderous Gu cultivators.

But upon sensing that both old men were merely early-stage Gu Kings, he relaxed. As someone with peak-grade Gu insect, Long Xuan was confident they posed no threat.

Elder Zheng walked up and asked with a smile, “Young friend, what treasures did you find in that secret chamber? Would you satisfy my curiosity?”

“Nothing valuable. Mostly useless spiritual artifacts. Nothing I can use—will probably just sell them,” Long Xuan said honestly, his tone somewhat disappointed.

He wasn’t lying. The chamber was indeed just a minor clan’s vault with no high-tier items.

Of course, that was from his perspective. To these poverty-stricken rogue cultivators, the same items would seem extremely tempting.

Unconvinced, Elder Zheng chuckled, “So young friend doesn't wish to be honest with us. I hate liars most in this life.”

His expression turned cold. “If I’m not mistaken, you’ve only just broken through to Gu King, and your Gu insect are likely still Spiritual Sea stage, yes? Heh.”

Long Xuan’s face twisted slightly at the statement.

He now understood why they had the audacity to target him.

Most newly advanced Gu Kings indeed lacked Gu insect of equal rank. But he was the exception. He now possessed several evolved Gu insect, far beyond the ordinary.

If they thought he was weak just because he had recently advanced, they were dead wrong.

“Why waste time talking? It’s just the two of us Gu Kings here. Let’s finish this quickly,” Elder Yang growled.

“If we delay and more Gu Kings arrive, it could get messy. Let’s attack now.”

Elder Yang made the first move, throwing out his insect rearing pouch. More than ten vicious Gu insect flew out and charged at Long Xuan.

“Oh? Using numbers to bully me just because I recently advanced to Gu King?” Long Xuan smirked, completely calm.

Although the enemy’s Gu insect count was high, none were peak-grade. He had no reason to be concerned.

The gap between ordinary Gu insect and peak-grade mutated Gu insect was immense. Even sending out just his Heaven-Devouring World Toad, a mutated Gu insect, would be enough to crush them.

But he chose not to reveal his trump card.

Instead, he tapped his insect pouch, and instantly, tens of thousands of Gold-Eating Insects flew out like a black tide.

Over the years, his Gold-Eating Insect army had grown to over 20,000 and now had initial combat capability.

He had long since developed the Grade-4 Alloy Holy Gold, which could evolve them.

Thousands of these insects had already evolved, their exoskeletons fused with Holy Gold, making them incredibly resilient—far beyond what the enemy’s ordinary Gu insect could harm.

He was confident they were more than enough to deal with these ten-plus enemies.

Seeing the insect swarm, Elder Yang scoffed:

“Hmph! No mutated Gu? You really think you can overwhelm me with spiritual insects?”

“I’ll show you the gap between spiritual insects and real Gu. Surrender!”

A red-colored Gu insect on his side suddenly unleashed a sea of fire, engulfing the swarm.

But Long Xuan merely smiled.

The third rule of the Gold-Eating Insects was their immortality trait. Unless overwhelmed by pure physical force, they couldn’t be killed. Fire attacks like this posed no threat.

Soon, the Gold-Eating Insect army burst through the flames and clashed with the enemy Gu.

Elder Yang’s face froze in shock.

To his horror, none of his Gu insect could pierce the insects’ armor. Their attacks left not even a scratch.

Meanwhile, the Gold-Eating Insects' razor-sharp mandibles shredded through his Gu worms like paper. Crunching sounds echoed through the air, causing one’s scalp to go numb.

One of his most powerful Gu—clad in armor crafted by a famed master, able to withstand even peak Gu King attacks—was being torn apart like wet paper.

“This is impossible... That armor could withstand a Gu King’s full strike!”

Elder Yang looked utterly dumbfounded and shouted in disbelief.

“An impenetrable defense and simultaneously a swarm that can bite through any defense—such a terrifying Gu swarm... this is my first time seeing anything like it!”

Since their defense could not be broken, yet they could break all defenses, the result of this battle was already clear.

Just as Elder Yang was stunned, all of his Gu—including his strongest beetle—were completely devoured by the insect swarm.

As the swarm swept through, over a dozen of his powerful mutated Gu were consumed cleanly—every part of them devoured, no matter how hard or reinforced.

Seeing this, Elder Yang’s vision darkened, nearly causing him to faint on the spot.

These Gu were essentially half his entire fortune. To lose them all in an instant... the damage wasn’t just severe—it was akin to crippling him entirely.

“What in the world are these insects!? How can they be so terrifying!?” Elder Zheng's eyes widened in horror, his face twisted in shock.

“This is bad! We’ve hit a steel wall—run!”

Terrified by the terrifying insect tide, Elder Zheng abandoned all thoughts of robbing or killing. Without hesitation, he turned and fled in panic, thankful he hadn’t released his own Gu, or else he too would’ve suffered terrible losses.

But Long Xuan was always one to eliminate all roots, never leaving enemies behind. Since they had become enemies, how could he possibly allow the two to escape?

Gazing at their retreating figures, Long Xuan let out a cold sneer. “Hmph! Run? Where could you possibly run to? You’re not going anywhere—stay behind for me.”

With a sharp whistle, the vast insect sea army surged after the two elders. At the same time, he released Little White and deployed the Slowing Domain to reduce their escape speed, while also activating the Acceleration Domain to hasten the swarm’s pursuit.

With one slowing and the other accelerating, how could the two possibly outrun the swarm?

Before long, they were both engulfed by the Gu tide. Within the swarm, their piercing, ghastly screams echoed... but not for long—they were abruptly cut off.

As the swarm passed, it was as if the two had evaporated from existence. No remains were left. Not a trace.

Witnessing such a gruesome scene, the onlookers’ pupils shrank in horror, and their legs trembled. No one dared to linger—they all fled in fear of this terrifying demon star.

Long Xuan glanced coldly at the fleeing spectators, snorted, then suddenly rushed toward a specific spot. With a swift motion of his hand, he seized an old soul, which manifested visibly in his grasp.

The Gu King realm was drastically different from a typical Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivator. The most crucial distinction: Gu Kings possessed strong souls that, when in danger, could flee their body at any time, making them very difficult to kill.

So, to truly eliminate a Gu King, one must destroy both body and soul—and more importantly, capture the soul before it escapes.

Otherwise, if the soul fled and reincarnated via body possession, it could return later to seek revenge—with a high likelihood of succeeding.

Elder Shui was a living example. With such a precedent, how could Long Xuan dare let the soul in his hand escape?

Elder Zheng had been unlucky—running just a bit too slow—and was devoured, body and soul, by the Gold-Eating Insects.

Elder Yang's soul escaped quickly, barely getting out of the swarm’s range. His soul was invisible to the naked eye, and the insects quickly lost their target and ceased the chase.

But while he escaped the insects, he could not escape Long Xuan’s discerning eyes.

Locking onto Elder Yang's spiritual location, Long Xuan dashed forth and swiftly captured his soul.

When Elder Yang’s soul manifested in Long Xuan’s palm, despair filled his expression. He immediately began pleading for mercy.

“Young friend! Spare my life!”

“I was momentarily blinded by greed... I only acted because that old fool persuaded me to.”

“I swear to the heavens—I will never seek revenge if you spare me! I’ll even swear an oath to the Heart Demon!”

Long Xuan curled his lips into a cold sneer. He couldn’t be bothered to listen to this babble.

Without hesitation, he used the Soul Search Art from the [Heavenly Demon Soul-Splitting Divine Art].

This art allowed one to extract all memories from a soul. However, its side effects were severe—the lightest consequence would leave the target a drooling fool; the worst would result in complete soul annihilation.

Long Xuan didn’t dare bet on whether Elder Yang’s words were sincere—he simply chose to destroy the soul with this technique.

Screams of agony echoed from the void. Eventually, they ceased. The soul disintegrated into wisps of smoke and vanished.

Long Xuan closed his eyes briefly, organizing the information he had just obtained.

The memories were typical of a vicious rogue cultivator—his entire life had been one of murder and robbery, climbing a mountain of corpses to reach the Gu King realm.

But as the saying goes: "Walk by the river long enough, and your shoes will get wet.” One day, he provoked someone he should never have provoked, and his soul was destroyed.

That was where the memory ended.

There wasn’t much of real value in Elder Yang’s memory—except a clue about a blade.

A blade called Demon-Slaying Blade, once known to have drawn Annihilation Lightning. A divine weapon.

Whoever wielded it could slay gods and Buddhas alike, and among their peers, few could rival them. It had long been a coveted treasure among Gu Kings.

However, the blade was now broken, its power greatly diminished, which made fewer covet it.

Currently, the blade was held by the Tu Clan as their clan-protecting treasure.

In seven days, the Tu Clan would hold a grand banquet for their ancestor and had invited many famous Gu cultivators from nearby regions.

Elder Yang and Elder Zheng had been on their way to the Tu Clan when they passed by Xuanyuan City, intending to look for valuable items there.

Who would’ve thought they’d stumble upon a living demon star—and lose their lives instead?

What truly intrigued Long Xuan was not the broken blade itself. He already had the complete forging method for the Prison-Heaven Staff, so he had little interest in a half-ruined weapon.

What he cared about was the Frenzied Blade Intent sealed within the blade.

Whoever wielded the Demon-Slaying Blade could release this madness-infused blade intent during combat—and those with high blade-path talent had a chance to comprehend it.

Those who successfully comprehended it could become experts, even without the weapon itself.

It was precisely because of this weapon that the Tu Clan had cultivated so many blade cultivators and remained strong in the Xuanyuan Empire for generations.

The blade itself could be dismissed—but the Frenzied Blade Intent was of critical importance to Long Xuan.

Blade Intent was a core evolution material for the Blade Gu. Now that he knew where to find it, how could Long Xuan let it slip through his fingers?

At that moment, Long Xuan made up his mind to pay the Tu Clan a visit.

Since the Tu Clan invited Elder Yang, all he had to do was take on Elder Yang’s appearance and attend the banquet in his stead.

With Seventy-Two Transformations, no one could see through his disguise. And now that he also possessed Elder Yang’s complete memories, he was confident no one could expose him.

He immediately finalized the plan to visit the Tu Clan. After retrieving all of the Gold-Eating Insects, he set off without delay.

He had already scoured the entire city, and any treasure amidst the ruins had long been collected. There was no longer any need to remain.