The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 503: Long Kun

Seven days later, in Xuantian City—

Today was the birthday celebration of the Tu Clan’s Ancestor. A large number of Gu cultivators gathered from all over to attend the Tu Clan's grand event, including several Gu King-level powerhouses.

Within the Xuanyuan Empire, the Tu Clan was considered a mid-tier family. Their ancestor was only at the mid-stage Gu King realm, and their influence was limited. However, the reason they could attract so many Gu Kings to pay their respects today was simple — they were one of the earliest clans to pledge loyalty to the Great Jin Empire.

Thanks to the Tu Clan acting as an inside collaborator, the Great Jin Empire quickly took control of this region. For this contribution, they gained the full trust of the empire.

Currently, with the Great Jin Empire under siege by multiple other nations and engaged in multi-front warfare, their manpower was severely stretched. As a result, this region had been entrusted entirely to the Tu Clan’s management. Thus, the Tu Clan rose rapidly in status, becoming a force that everyone in the area had to curry favor with — no family dared to offend them.

Given this context, how could any prominent powerhouse ignore the Tu Clan's celebration?

Even though it was technically a small family’s event, it drew many renowned cultivators. Even if they didn’t care about the Tu Clan, they had to give face to the Great Jin Empire.

The Tu Clan had risen overnight by making the right choice. Not only did they gain control over a region, but they were also rewarded by the empire with numerous puppets. Their strength skyrocketed overnight. Now, the Tu Clan was no longer a mere upstart — they had the absolute power to suppress all opposition.

These respected Gu Kings had no choice but to show respect.

Hosting this birthday banquet was, in truth, also a test. Families who showed up were effectively declaring allegiance. Those who did not would surely be "taken care of" later.

The Tu Clan may be small, and their territory limited, but they weren’t going to miss the chance to expand while their influence was on the rise. That meant some families would definitely be targeted.

Long Xuan had traveled from afar to reach the Tu Clan, timing his arrival just right.

Looking at the fortress-like Tu Clan estate before him, Long Xuan nodded inwardly. “As expected of a nouveau riche power,” he thought. “This stronghold is easy to defend and hard to assault, richly decorated — its construction costs probably rival that of the eight great families of Xuanyuan City.”

There were guards every five steps and sentries every ten. The towering walls were patrolled by a vast number of puppet soldiers wielding weapons.

Among them were even golden puppets at the Gu King level, several of which seemed familiar to Long Xuan.

He knew very well how formidable these puppets were. It was no exaggeration to say that this puppet army alone could obliterate any single family in the region.

“Tsk tsk… Are they trying to intimidate the guests by putting all their puppets out in the open?”

“But these puppets, while deadly to others, can be destroyed by me in an instant.”

With a faint smirk, Long Xuan pulled out his gift and headed toward the gate to queue up.

His offering wasn’t anything extravagant — just a thousand-year-old spiritual herb. In his lavish medicinal garden, he had too many of these. Such a herb was already worthless to him.

But due to the sheer number of Gu cultivators arriving, Long Xuan had to wait in line for quite a while before he finally handed over his gift.

A Tu Clan Gu cultivator inspected the offering and lit up with joy, loudly announcing:

“One thousand-year spiritual herb from Elder Yang!”

With the crowd watching, Long Xuan finally stepped through the Tu Clan gates.

As expected, his disguised identity did not raise any suspicion.

Many Gu cultivators who were acquainted with “Elder Yang” even greeted him. Long Xuan responded with a warm smile and casual replies.

Thanks to possessing Elder Yang’s complete memory, his interactions were natural — even those most familiar with Elder Yang couldn't detect a flaw.

Before long, an elderly man who clearly knew “Elder Yang” very well came over, clapped him on the shoulder, and cheerfully said:

“Elder Yang, you finally arrived! I've been waiting for you. Please, come inside!”

After all, as a Gu King, he was an esteemed guest. How could the Tu Clan not send someone to personally receive him?

Long Xuan, who now possessed the full memory of Elder Yang, immediately recognized the man — it was none other than Tu Liang, the patriarch of the Tu Clan, a cultivator at the early-stage Gu King realm. For the family head himself to come greet him was a sign of great respect.

“Hehe, wasn’t Elder Zheng supposed to come with you? I don’t see him.”

Tu Liang looked behind him in confusion and asked casually.

“Something urgent came up for him. He couldn’t make it, and asked me to extend his apologies on his behalf. I hope the Tu Clan won’t take offense.”

Long Xuan casually made up an excuse.

In truth, Elder Zheng had already been reduced to ashes by him — how could he show up now?

“Haha! It’s fine. Everyone has emergencies. I understand — no one should miss an urgent matter over a birthday celebration.”

Tu Liang still wore a wide smile, as if unconcerned.

But deep inside, a surge of killing intent had already flared up. He had sentenced “Elder Zheng” to death in his mind.

The real purpose of this birthday banquet was to weed out dissent. The Tu Clan wanted to use the occasion to identify loyal allies. Anyone who didn’t give face, both individuals and factions — would be wiped out by their puppet army.

Zheng’s vague excuse, offering no specific reason, was seen by Tu Liang as nothing more than an insult. In his view, it was a deliberate snub.

For this Gu King who had disrespected them, Tu Liang had already placed him on the kill list.

“Hehe, I have other guests to entertain. I won’t take up more of your time. Please, enjoy yourself — we’ll catch up later.”

After exchanging these pleasantries, Tu Liang smiled and turned to greet another Gu King who had just entered.

Long Xuan exhaled in relief, just about to walk away — when his gaze caught sight of the person Tu Liang had gone to greet. His steps froze, and his expression changed subtly.

Using his X-ray perception, Long Xuan detected multiple unique Gu insects exclusive to the Long Clan inside that person’s body — including a formidable Dragonblood Battle Gu.

The person who had just entered was clearly a Long Clan Gu King.

This identity could fool everyone here — but not Long Xuan.

It was obvious: the person had used disguise techniques, and had likely killed a Gu King and assumed their identity to infiltrate the event.

Long Xuan couldn't help but grow suspicious.

The Great Jin Empire was currently under siege by every major empire in the Central Lands, including the Dragon Soaring Empire.

Which meant that the Long Clan and the Great Jin Empire were enemies. Under no circumstance should a Long Clan Gu King appear at this banquet.

Could it be that the Dragon Soaring Empire had secretly planted someone here, intending to create chaos during the Tu Clan’s banquet?

Long Xuan furrowed his brows. This Long Clan Gu King had clearly sneaked in with ill intent.

The banquet ahead may take a dramatic turn — and Long Xuan didn’t yet know whether this disruption would interfere with his own plans…

After a brief moment of thought, Long Xuan decided he couldn't be bothered figuring out the origins of this Gu King from the Long clan. He moved to a hidden corner and used Earth Escape Technique to vanish from sight.

The Demon-Slaying Blade was the ancestral treasure of the Tu clan. Because of this blade’s existence, countless Tu clan Gu cultivators had comprehended the Frenzied Blade Intent and grown into formidable experts.

Long Xuan didn’t believe that a normal transaction could possibly acquire the Tu clan's ancestral weapon.

Since a fair deal was impossible, the only option left was theft.

With the Heavenly Secret Eye, which had powerful formation-breaking capabilities, combined with his Earth Escape Technique, Long Xuan believed himself to be no worse than Di Xin when it came to stealing.

Before long, Long Xuan had infiltrated deep into the Tu clan. This was the core region of their estate—ordinary guests were never allowed in.

Thus, few people were present, only a few Tu clan Gu cultivators guarding the entrances to major structures.

Emerging from the ground in a secluded corner, Long Xuan activated his X-ray vision and Golden Finger ability, sweeping the area.

Instantly, dense progress markers appeared in his field of view. The walls of nearby pavilions seemed to vanish, revealing their inner treasures in crystal clarity.

With these combined powers, every hidden treasure in the Tu clan estate became fully visible to him.

Soon after, Long Xuan vanished again from his spot, heading stealthily toward one of the buildings.

Thirty minutes later, in a secret chamber, Long Xuan poured out all the treasures from his storage ring. When he didn’t find the Demon-Slaying Blade, his expression darkened.

He wasn’t sure what “progress marker” the Demon-Slaying Blade might have. And not all locations were penetrable by his X-ray vision—storage rings, for instance, were impervious to such scanning.

He had spent half an hour searching through half the Tu clan’s estate, yet found no trace of the Demon-Slaying Blade. His frown deepened.

“There’s still half of the area left. Hopefully, I won’t be disappointed.”

Taking a deep breath, Long Xuan continued his stealthy search into the remaining sectors.

The core region of the Tu clan was densely protected by layers of formations. Every treasure pavilion and secret chamber was guarded by elaborate array formations. To search the entire estate within an hour would be impossible for most.

Breaking formations was one thing—but to silently dismantle them without alerting anyone? That was another level.

In the entire Gu Realm, very few could achieve such a feat. Long Xuan, with the Heavenly Secret Eye, was one of them.

At that moment, the Tu clan’s Gu King had no idea that a mysterious formation master was silently inspecting all their treasure vaults and secret chambers—without alerting a soul.

Another half-hour later, inside one of the secret chambers, Long Xuan stood before dozens of black jars, his face dark with fury.

Each jar had a pregnant woman’s head emerging from its mouth—hair disheveled, faces twisted in extreme agony.

Within each woman’s womb, visible through his X-ray sight, was a worm, gnawing on the fetus inside.

Even someone like Long Xuan, used to blood and horror, felt his scalp go numb and a wave of nausea rise in his throat.

“Is this… refining Corpse Gu? Using pregnant women as vessels? The Tu clan is truly savage.”

His brow furrowed deeply, eyes filled with shock.

He had searched many secret rooms by now. Most were Gu-refining chambers, each more twisted than the last. All used living people for the process. Every victim was kept conscious—forced to endure pain worse than death.

Some even begged him to kill them. And without raising alarms, Long Xuan had obliged, giving them a swift release.

Staring at the pregnant women in the jars, Long Xuan couldn't bear to look any longer. He set them aflame, reducing everything to ashes. Each face, as it burned, showed a look of relief.

“Looks like after the Xuanyuan royal family was wiped out, this place descended into chaos. With no legal restraint, many clans have grown bold enough to refine Gu with living humans.”

Long Xuan sighed internally, but suddenly his eyes narrowed—a flicker of killing intent flashing within.

He wasn’t driven by a desire for vengeance. He had always disliked meddling in others' affairs. There were too many pitiful souls in this world for him to be moved by all of them.

But now, having searched every last chamber in the Tu clan and still found no trace of the Demon-Slaying Blade, he knew what it meant—it had to be carried personally by one of the Tu clan Gu Kings, hidden in their storage ring.

Which meant one thing: He’d have to take it by force.

“So be it. If the Tu clan dares commit such heinous acts—refining Gu from living captives—then destroying them is doing the heavens' will and ridding the world of evil. I’ll feel no guilt.”

Long Xuan was never indecisive. With his mind made up, he stepped out of the room.

Inside a grand hall, the crowd bustled with noise and chatter.

By now, all guests attending the longevity banquet had taken their seats. The air was festive, with clinking cups and cheerful conversation.

Although most secretly looked down on the upstart Tu clan—many had even been betrayed by their spies and suffered great losses in battles against the Great Jin Empire—they could only maintain a cordial facade for now.

At one table, a man whispered to an elderly figure:

“Commander, when do we strike?”

The old man responded quietly:

“We already tested the waters. Most people here are only pretending to be cordial with the Tu clan. Many harbor old grudges. If anything happens to the Tu clan, they’ll cheer—not help.”

“As long as they don’t interfere, I am fully confident in wiping out this minor clan.”

“Once the Tu clan is erased, the Great Jin Empire’s control over this region will collapse entirely.”

Long Kun glanced at the old man seated at the main table. A flash of contempt passed through his eyes as he said in a low voice:

“Don’t be hasty. The Tu clan is but a small force—its strongest member is only a mid-stage Gu King. Destroying them would normally be easy.”

“But I didn’t expect the Great Jin Empire to leave behind so many Gu King-level puppets just to stabilize the Tu clan’s position here.”

“There are too many high-tier puppets. I can’t guarantee a clean win.”

The man frowned, unwilling to give up.

“What now? The Dragon Emperor ordered us to eliminate all clans who surrendered to the Great Jin Empire as an example. If we don’t take down the Tu clan—the most prominent among them—how will it send a message?”

“Are we really going to walk away in shame?”

Long Kun sighed, visibly troubled:

“Let’s play it by ear. Don’t act rashly for now.”